Zoids: The Will to Fight
by Jaid Skywalker
Summary: NEW CHAPTER! Slight interlude like chapter; Harry has a "discussion" with his parents. The Fuzzy Pandas make another appearence and a little BitJade fluff. BrN, HL, PJ, Roc, ococ
1. One

Hi everybody! Okay, this is my first Zoid story and has been several months in the making. I'm rather proud of it and I think it's ready for publication. There aren't many battles because I am not very good at describing them, but I promise that you will probably get quite a lot of them near the end. 

Like it says in the summary, this story will eventually be Harry/Leena. Why? Because they are a couple who isn't given very much attention and from what I can see, they are the only ones, besides Brad and Naomi that have any hint of romantic possibilities. I am not against B/L; in fact, I have enjoyed a few. But to me, Bit and Leena act more like brother and sister than possible lovers. If you disagree, then you don't have to read. Please don't flame me in the reviews; it's immature and I'll just delete it anyways. 

Constructive Criticism is vastly appreciative. Don't hesitate to tell me how I can make this story better. 

There is some OOC-ness in this, but it is explained so bear with me.

Well, this A/N is more than long enough, so I'll let you guys get to the actual story. ^__^ 

Thanks to Shayna, who encouraged me to try this out and helped me with relationships, and characterization. Also thanks to Wolfcking who provided me with tons of Zoid information and patiently answered my questions. Arigato!!!

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Images flashed in front of Bit so rapidly that he could hardly discern one from the other. Splashes of color, blurred faces of friends and enemies, the sound of the fighting all of it whirled around in his mind. He was frozen, numb with the realization that something had gone wrong. Horribly, terribly wrong. 

            "Bit! Bit! Are you there?" Jamie's voice called. 

            "Yeah." Bit answered shakily. 

            "Are you okay? Where's Leena? Bit, do you know where Leena is?" 

            "No-" he began, then was interrupted as a horrible cry of pain came from the comm. Leena. It seemed to wake Bit up and he and Liger swung round and hurried towards where the cry had come from. 

            Jumping from the cockpit, Bit ran over to the wreckage that had once been the Gunsniper. 

            "Leena!" he shouted. Then he saw her. Harry had beaten him to the girl and was holding her in his arms. Blood seemed to be everywhere, both Leena's and Harry's. Leena's body was limp and twisted, like a ragdoll's, and her face was gray. 

            "Is she going to be all right? I mean, is she alive?" Bit gasped. Harry didn't answer; didn't even look up. 

            "Harry!" Bit shouted. The young man's head snapped up, his green eyes blinking with tears. 

            "She needs a doctor." He said in an un-naturally loud voice. 

            _His ears. _Bit thought numbly. _Something's wrong with his ears._ Brad and Jamie ran up, Jamie rapidly talking to the Doc through a comm. It seemed like hours before help arrived. And then the nightmare grew worse. 

            They all waited in an outdoor room, even Harry and Brad who both needed medical attention. The doctor came out presently and sadly shook his head. Leena had not made it. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Bit sat up in bed, sweating and breathing hard. With difficulty, he reminded himself that it had been just a dream. A few minutes later, he got up and dressed, knowing he would not be able to go to sleep. The clock read 4:30 a.m. 

            Bit left the apartment room he currently shared with Brad and walked, trying to shake off the dream. It hadn't been a dream really. Just a horrible replay of the events that had happened barely five months before. The trauma had changed them all, both mentally, emotionally and for a few, physically. 

            Bit looked up. The sky was just beginning to lighten as the sun prepared to rise. Across the street was a residential hospital. Hesitating for a moment, Bit decided to cross the street and enter the building. After talking with the nurse at the front desk, he walked down the hallway and entered a room that looked out on the hospital garden. A figure seated in a wheelchair sat next to the window. 

            "Up a little early, aren't you?" Bit said, a little loudly. The figure turned and smiled. 

            "No earlier than you." Leena answered, turning her wheelchair away from the window. "What's wrong? Another night mare?" 

            Bit didn't answer. Instead, he nodded to the roses on her nightstand. "Harry?" 

            Leena nodded, standing up shakily and climbing back into her bed. Bit tried to help, but she slapped him away, protesting that she was fine. 

            "Are you all right?" she asked, once she was settled. "I mean, you look awful. More awful than you usually look." 

            Bit rolled his eyes as she giggled. "I haven't been sleeping too well." 

            "Misplace your special 'blankie'?" 

            "Leena!" Bit grimaced. "That was when I was seven or something." 

            "Wow, you've mislaid it for a while, huh?" 

            Bit sighed and shook his head. Leena, still chuckling, nudged him hard in the arm. 

            "I'm just kidding." 

            "Leena?" Dr. Tauros stood in the doorway. He looked old; the "incident" had aged him for several years. 

            "Hi, Daddy." She said, holding her arms out for a hug. Tauros hugged her, then sat down in a chair next to Bit. 

            "I have some good news." He said. "Yesterday, Harry told me that his aunt runs a resort on the edge of a lake in the mountains here. She offered to let us come and stay for a few weeks at half price, since it's the slow season for them there." He looked at his daughter. "I thought it would be good for us all, especially for you, Leena. I don't want you to push yourself too soon." 

            "I don't care where we go." Leena commented. "As long as I get out of here." 

            Tauros nodded. "All right. It's settled then." There was a silence, and Bit suspected that Leena and her father wanted some time alone. Rising, he excused himself and left. 

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            A woman stood in front of a garage/hangar near the docks. She was average height and build, with clear, turquoise eyes that had humor and intelligence in them. Her skin was clear and fair, and her chin-length hair was curly and dark. Though not exactly pretty, she was the sort of person who was very much her own self. 

            Looking down at the newspaper sheet in her hand, she sighed. It was the address the advertisement had given, she reflected, then shrugged. It couldn't hurt to try. 

            Kirin Morgan, a young man of 24, softly sang to the rock song playing on the speakers, as he worked on top of a Command Wolf. Brushing some of his black hair out of his face, he looked up to see the woman enter. He whistled in admiration. 

            "Hot babe at nine o clock." He murmured. 

            "Huh?" a tiny girl of nineteen poked her curly head of sandy red hair out of the cockpit. "What was that?" she looked at Kirin. "You're getting drool on my Wolf, bro." 

            Kirin didn't answer. The girl, Jade, sighed in exasperation, then followed his gaze. She quickly climbed down and approached the woman. 

            "Hi. Can I help you?" 

            The woman looked at the girl, who barely stood tall enough to reach her nose. 

            "Yes." She answered. "I'm Sky Williams and I read an advertisement…?" 

            Jade looked at the paper, then smiled. "Oh, yeah. Great! We didn't expect to get a response so soon." She looked at the taller woman. "Come back to the office. I'll ask you some questions and stuff and hopefully, you can join us." Jade nodded toward the Shadow Fox. "That's my older brother, Kirin." 

            Sky nodded to the young man, who grinned in reply. Then she followed Jade to the office. Kirin watched them go, his ice blue eyes on Sky. 

            "I wonder who she is." He mused. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

            Leena closed her eyes and soaked in the sun. It was nice to be out of that stuffy hospital, she thought. Just below the patio/deck, she heard Brad and Jamie on the lake beach. Her father was in their rooms, fiddling with a new model Zoid and Bit had rented a mountain bike and gone riding. 

            "Mind if I sit?" 

            Leena opened her eyes and looked up. She shrugged non-commitedly. Harry grinned and sat down. 

            "How are you doing?" he asked. 

            "Fine." Leena answered. "How are you?" 

            "Pardon?" 

            "How are you?" Leena said in a slightly louder tone. 

            "All right." 

            Leena nodded, then looked over to where she had heard peals of laughter. Two young women and a young man sat at the other end of the patio; the only people besides her and Harry at the moment. 

            "I just love resorts like this." Jade sighed happily. "I love water." 

            "Funny, seeing as you can barely swim." Kirin commented. Jade sent him a sour look. 

            "I like looking at the water." She said. 

            "It is nice." Sky agreed. She looked at the lake. 

            "We should get back to choosing a team name." Jade reminded them. Sky looked back at her. 

            "Yeah." Sky grinned. "How 'bout the 'Cupid team'?" 

            Kirin spit out a mouthful of soda. "What?" he croaked. 

            Jade hid a grin behind her hand. "That's good." 

            Kirin paled. 

            "But I like the Heart team better." Jade continued, popping a french fry into her mouth. 

            Kirin, who had just taken a bite of Jell-O, began to choke. Jade hit him on the back, un-necessarily hard. 

            "Uh-huh." Sky shook her head. "Flower Power is much better." 

            "The Blood Eagles." Kirin said quickly. 

            "Huh?" the females looked at him. 

            "The Blood Eagles." Kirin told them. "Please?" 

            "No." Jade said. 

            "Please?" 

            "No." 

            Kirin gave his best puppy-dog look. 

            "No." Jade said. 

            "But not…" Kirin swallowed. "Flower power? Please?" 

            Jade and Sky burst into laughter. 

            "Guuuyyss!!!" 

            "We're just fooling with you." Sky laughed. 

            "Yeah." Jade agreed. "I'd die before I was on a team name Flower Power." 

            "Well….?" Kirin raised an eyebrow. 

            "The Rouges." Jade said, smiling. 

            "Huh?"

            "That's not bad." Sky commented. "It's better than Blood Eagles." 

            "Hey, that is a good name!" Kirin protested. Sky rolled her eyes. 

            "Right…"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Brad reached up and pulled himself up on the dock. 

            "What, bailing out already?" Jamie asked. 

            "Yeah. I'm kinda tired." The long-haired man said. "I'll just sit here for a while." 

            Jamie shrugged. "Suit yourself." 

            Brad watched as the slender young man swam out farther, his arms making knife-like strokes threw the water. 

            "Hello." 

            Brad turned. A dark, lovely woman dressed in a red swimsuit and jean shorts stood there, a quiet smile on her lips. He stood. 

            "Naomi." He said in surprise. 

            "No, I'm not staying." She said. "But I heard you guys were here and I thought I'd drop in to see how you were doing." 

            "We're all okay." Brad told her. "But it's good to see you again." 

            "You too." Naomi smiled. "Want to walk with me?" 

            Brad grinned. "Sure." 

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            "Yeah, okay, you can cut it out now." Kirin commented in annoyance. Sky and Jade were still giggling over the scare they had given him over lunch. 

            "Really, you should have seen your face, Morgan." Sky said. 

            Kirin "hmphed". 

            "Excuse me?" 

            The three turned to find a young man, with spiky blonde hair and sea-green eyes. He was holding his head as if it hurt and grimacing. Sky glanced at Jade. A look of sympathy had immediately come over her features and a sort of admiration. 

            _She likes him. _Sky decided. 

            "I was wondering if any of you had any aspirin." The young man said. 

            "I do." Jade answered quickly stepping forward. "It's in my room." She turned to the door and fumbled, trying to unlock it. The young man stood right behind her and Jade felt her face flush as she finally unlocked the door and opened it. 

            _What's wrong with me? _She thought, steadily not looking at him as she entered the room and walked to the desk. 

            "It's not really aspirin." Jade commented. "I don't use it. It's a sort of stronger version of IB-profen. I get a lot of…well, I have bad pain sometimes." She opened the lid and looked up at him for the first time. "Two or three?" 

            "Oh. Um, I'm not sure." He answered. 

            "How bad is the pain?" Jade asked. The young man grimaced again. 

            "Pretty bad." He admitted. 

            "Three." Jade poured several pills into her hand and handed them to the young man. "There." 

            "Thanks." He said. Jade replaced the lid and followed him out. 

            "I hope you feel better." She said softly. 

            "Thank you." He answered and walked down the hall. Jade watched him enter another room not far from hers and Sky's. 

            Sky giggled and Jade turned to her. "What?" 

            "You like him." 

            "What?" Jade went really red. "No way! I mean, I don't even know him and he could already have a girl friend and why would he even take notice of me and-" 

            "Hold it!" Kirin held up a hand. "Gee whiz, Jade. I've never seen you get so flustered." 

            "I am not flustered!" she practically yelled. Sky shook her head. 

            "And in denial." 

            Jade glared at her. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Bit set his tray down on the table. Leena was laughing at Jamie, who was apparently telling an amusing story. Naomi was talking quietly to Brad about something or other. 

                "Hi, Naomi." Bit greeted. "Haven't seen you for a while." 

            The dark-haired woman smiled quietly. "I'm leaving after dinner." She said. "My team's staying in town. But I heard you guys were here and I thought I would look you up." 

            "Well, it's good to see you again." Bit told her. 

            "Hey." Leena nodded to Bit. "Where's Daddy?" 

            "Still working on his model." Bit answered around a mouthful of pizza. "Said he'd be down in a few minutes." 

            Leena nodded, then frowned. Cocking her head, she asked, "What happened?" 

            "Huh?" 

            "You've got a bruise." Jamie said, tapping the side of his own head to show Bit where it was. Bit reached up and felt a slight lump. 

            _No wonder I hurt so much._ He thought. Aloud he said, "Oh nothing. I just had a slight accident with the mountain bike." 

            "And how long were you out?" Naomi asked, her lips quirking up a little. Bit glared at her. 

            "Not at all." He said. "I had a headache, but I'm fine now." 

            "Maybe you should see a doctor." Jamie suggested, worriedly. "I mean, maybe you got a concussion or something. Those can kill you." 

            "I just bumped my head against a tree or something!" Bit said, waving his hands around. 

            "Yeah, it's not too serious." Brad drawled. "Bit's head is so thick, it'd take a five-inch steel pipe to do any sort of damage." 

            The others laughed and Bit rolled his eyes. 

            "Ha, ha." He said. "Funny." 

            "You must've had a killer headache." Leena took a bite of her own dinner. 

            "Yeah, I did." Bit grimaced at the memory. "You're out of pain medication, by the way." 

            "What!" Leena shouted. "How much did you use, Bit Cloud!!!" 

            "Whoa!" Bit held up his hands in defense. "I didn't use any at all! It's all gone." 

            Leena frowned. "What do you mean? I had at least four or five pills left." 

            "What a quantity." Brad said dryly. Leena reached over the table to smack him. 

            "Well, I didn't use them." Bit told her, taking another bite of his pizza. "I had to ask some girl for pain-killer." 

            Leena's eyes twinkled. "Was she pretty?" 

            "Huh?" Bit looked up. "Yeah, I guess. She was short; couldn't have been more than fifteen, if that's what you're thinking." 

            "Did it work, or did you have to bother the poor girl again?" Naomi asked, smiling as she dug her fork into some salad. 

            "It did work." Bit threw up his hands. "For pity's sake! What's with the interest in my life all of a sudden?" 

            "We got tired of discussing Leena and Harry." Brad said, then dodged a rolled up napkin Leena fired at him. Bit raised an eyebrow. 

            "What is up with you two anyway?" he asked. 

            "Nothing." Leena told him. Brad and Jamie rolled their eyes at each other. 

            "He's just a friend." Leena glared at the two of them; first at Jamie, then at Brad. Brad snorted and Jamie grinned. 

            "Seems I've been missing out." Naomi raised an eyebrow. 

            "Yeah, me too." Bit sighed. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            The man sat in front of the communication screen, pale, but composed. He was middle-aged, with pale grey eyes and dark brown hair. 

            "What do you mean, you lost her?" the man over the screen demanded. 

            "She managed to detect our tracking device and delete it." The first man responded quietly. 

            His master was quiet for a while. "They aren't going to like this." He said. "That girl was the first of a new line of Zoid pilots. I told them that they should have made sure she was completely broken-"

            "If we had done that, you know as well as I that she would have been unfit for the system." The dark haired man looked up at his master for the first time. "The spirit that prodded her to escape, gave her the strength to conquer that system." He paused. "It will take some time, but we will find her. A pilot as good as she is won't stay hidden for long." 

            The other was quiet for a moment. "You'd better be right about this, Xander." He commented. "Or the Elite Seven will be breathing done our necks." 

            The communication disconnected. Xander sighed, partly from relief, partly from tiredness. Rising, his mind began working on ways to find the girl. His life depended on it. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Naomi quietly entered her hotel room. A flyer on the coffee table caught her attention. It was for the tournament to be held in a few weeks. She smiled, and replaced it. Running her fingers through her short, dark hair, she dropped her keys on the table and walked to her room, yawning. She'd find out details in the morning.

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Okay, before we get to you guys saying they are OOC, they really aren't. At least, I don't think so. 

Think about it; they just went through a major tragedy that changed their lives. No one goes through an experience that nearly kills you or someone you are close too without changing just a bit. I like to think that this made most of them grow up. But if you disagree and didn't see it that way, please tell me! And maybe tell me how to make it better. ^__^ Thanks! 


	2. Two

**Hello everybody! Hm…well…I got two reviews. Better than none I guess! ^__^ Response is at the bottom. Enjoy the chapter!**

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            "Are you insane?" Jade asked. Sky and Kirin looked at each other, then at her. 

            "Come on," Kirin said. "What could go wrong?" 

            Jade crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Oh gee, I dunno" she commented sarcastically. "But water skiing isn't what I had in mind for a vacation." 

            "Your funeral." Kirin said. 

            "Yours more likely." Jade muttered. Climbing out of the boat, she stood on the dock in her black and blue swimsuit. Sky looked up at her. 

            "You're not coming?" she asked. Jade shook her head. 

            "Nah, think I'll just soak in the sun." 

            "Use sunscreen." Kirin grinned. "Wouldn't want to be as red as a tomato if you see 'Blondie' again." 

            Jade glared at him, while Sky hid her smile behind a slender hand. 

            "Okay," the older girl said. "We'll meet you for lunch." 

            "Whatever." Jade commented, walking away. Shaking his head, Kirin looked at Sky. 

            "You or me first?" 

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            "And why are you making me do this?" Bit asked, in a bored tone. 

            "Because," Leena answered. "I'm not allowed to walk for long distances by myself and –"

            "Harry wasn't available?" Bit asked, grinning. Leena rewarded him with an icy death glare. 

            "You're an idiot." She muttered. Leena was about to add more comments to this, when a fit of coughing and splashing behind them caught both hers and Bit's attention. They turned, to see a short, well-built girl stumble out of the ocean, coughing. 

            "Go help her!" Leena hissed. Bit walked over, but was unsure of what to do.

            "Uh…" he grimaced, and tried patting her back. The girl jumped away, her wide blue eyes even wider. 

            "Are you okay?" Bit asked, cautiously. The girl nodded, then began coughing again. Leena came over, concern in her violet eyes. 

            "What happened?" she asked. 

            "Tripped." The girl gasped. "Stupid hole. Couldn't see and couldn't get back up for a while." The girl was shaking. Leena put a hand on her shoulder. 

            "You should probably get back to the resort." She said. "Who are you with?" 

            "My brother and a friend. But they went water-skiing." The girl brushed a wet lock of hair out of her face. She was breathing a little more normally now and seemed to have a bit more control of herself. Bit frowned. She looked a little familiar, now that he could actually see her face. 

            "You want us to walk you back?" Leena was asking. 

            "No, I'm fine." The girl answered. "Right now, I just want a shower, thanks." 

            "You're sure?" Leena asked. The girl nodded. 

            "I'll be fine." She said. "Thanks…um…?"

            "Leena Tauros." 

            "Jade Morgan." 

            Leena smiled. "This is my friend. Bit Cloud." 

            "Oh." Jade's cheeks went pink. "Are you okay now?" 

            Bit blinked in confusion, then he remembered. "Oh, yeah. Thanks." 

            Jade smiled shakily. "Nice meeting you." She murmured, then began to walk away. 

            "Are you okay now?" Leena echoed Jade's words in confusion. "Wait, is that the girl you were telling us about last night?" 

            "Yeah, I guess." 

            Leena raised her eyebrows. "Nice fifteen year old." 

            "Look, I had a headache, okay?" Bit grumbled. Leena just laughed and began walking the beach again. 

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            "A tournament?" Dr. Tauros looked at Brad doubtfully. "I don't know. It's a little soon-" 

            "Leena doesn't have to be in it." He said. Dr. Tauros raised an eyebrow. 

            "And what, pray tell," he commented. "Will we be telling her? I may be her father, but not even I can tell Leena not to compete unless she's strapped to a medical bed." 

            Jamie sighed. "That is a problem. But we're running low on reserves, Doc. It's not going to be long before we're deleted completely. And unless you plan on asking Leon for more money-" 

            "No." Dr. Tauros frowned, then sighed. "I guess you're both right."  He ran his fingers through graying brown hair. "I wasn't thinking about it that's all. We do need the money." 

            There was a pause.   
            "So…?" Jamie said. 

            "Sign us up, I guess." Dr. Tauros stood. "And pray that Leena doesn't kill us when she finds out we've excluded her. 

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            "Hm." Kirin said. "Looks like somebody's sulking." 

            Jade glared at her older brother and threw the pillow she had been hugging. He laughed as he caught it and flopped down on the couch next to her. 

            "What's wrong sis?" 

            "Nothing." Jade answered tersely. _Just made a fool of myself, that's all. She silently added. _

            "Oh?" Kirin raised an eyebrow. "It's okay J, you can tell me." 

            Jade shut off the TV and stood. "It's a…girl thing." She said, then walked to her room. 

            "Right." Kirin sighed. "A girl thing." 

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            Harry sighed with satisfaction as he entered his room. It had been rather gratifying to add that new gun to his Dark Horn. Now what he needed to do was clean-up before he went to see Leena.

            Humming to himself, he turned away from the door…his mouth dropping in the process. 

            "Mary?" he asked. His older sister smiled. 

            "Hello, Harry! I thought I would visit Aunt Martha and I find that you're here! Mother and Father will be glad to know where you are." She said in a sickly sweet tone. 

            _I bet they will._ Harry thought with a grimace. "You never visit Aunt Martha. After she married Uncle Saul, Mother and Father thought them both 'beneath us'." He pointed out. Mary shrugged her slim shoulders as she sat. 

            "What have you been doing?" she asked, the smile gone and replaced by a dis-approving frown. "You smell and you're dirty." 

            "That's what happens when you work." Harry commented, crossing his arms stubbornly. 

            "Well, get cleaned up." Mary waved her hand at him. "And then get ready to leave." 

            "Pardon?" 

            "Get ready to leave." Mary said in a louder tone. 

            "I heard that part." Harry told her. "Why?" 

            "Mother and Father have decided it's time for you to come home." She said. "Settle down, get married and take over soon." 

            "No." 

            "Excuse me?" 

            "No." Harry's fists were clenched. "I am not doing that." 

            "Oh?" Mary raised an eyebrow. "I should tell you that Father is not going to be sending any more money." 

            "Fine." Harry snapped. "I'll make my own." 

            Mary burst into laughter. "How? It's not like you have any skills. And don't tell me that you plan to win it in Zoid battles. You've proven to be a total incompetent as a pilot." 

            Harry snorted. "Goes to show how much you know." He said. "I have won several tournaments and I have managed to stay in the fight." 

            "But not lately, hmm?" Mary asked, looking as she wanted to laugh at him.

            Harry wanted snap something back, but he knew that she was right. After Leena's accident, his hearing had never fully returned, handi-capping him. To add to that, Benjamin and Sebastian had been destroyed in that fight and he never had the heart to re-build them. 

            "Then I'll be a mechanic or work computers." He muttered. "I can do that." 

            "And you won't come back?" Mary asked. 

            "No." 

            There was a silence. Mary was now standing, looking at her younger brother. They stayed that way for awhile, almost as if they were silently challenging each other to make the first move. A few moments later, Mary tore her blue eyes away from her brother. 

            "As you wish." She said softly, then walked to the door. Mary paused, then turned. "But Harry, Mother and Father won't give up so easily. If they have to drag you back kicking and screaming, they will." 

            "They can try." Harry said confidently. Mary shook her head almost sadly and left. As soon as she was gone, Harry sank onto the couch. Right now, he had to figure out what to do. How to get a job. Maybe he could sell his Zoids. That and the leftover allowance money he had should see him through for a good while. Maybe Aunt Martha would let him stay, if he promised to earn his keep. Shaking his head, he stood. He'd think about it after some sleep. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Jade looked bleakly at her muffing and coffee. _It's too early for breakfast._ She stared at Sky and Kirin who were laughing and scowled. _It's too early to be cheerful. Groaning, she slammed her head on the table. _

            "You okay, J?" Kirin asked, worry in his ice blue eyes. 

            "It's too early!!!" Jade moaned, her voice muffled by the table surface. 

            "I'm guessing you're not much of a morning person." Sky commented. Jade looked up. 

            "Gee," she commented. "Whatever gave you that idea?" 

            "What time did you go to bed last night?" the dark-haired woman asked. 

            "Same as you." Jade said defensively. "I just couldn't sleep." 

            "Why?" Kirin asked. Jade shot him a sour look. 

            "I don't know." She laid her head back on the table. "Don't mind me. I'm taking a nap." 

            Sky looked at Kirin. He sighed and shrugged. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "Hey." Leena grabbed Bit's arm, nearly making him drop his tray of food. "It's that girl." 

            "Oh, so it is." He commented blandly. Leena made a face as they sat down. 

            "Why don't you go and talk to her?" she asked. Bit glanced at the girl, then back at his friend. 

            "Why?" he asked. 

            Leena shrugged. "I dunno. I just thought, that maybe…you liked her." 

            "Pardon?" 

            "Cut that out." Leena smacked his arm lightly. "You're starting to sound like Harry." 

            Bit grimaced. "I don't see why I should go talk to-" 

            "An extremely attractive girl you met in a very romantic circumstance?" Leena finished. Bit glared, but she waved it away. "Come on, Bit! It was romantic. Even Jamie thought so." 

            "Yeah well, Jamie's a-" Bit began, but Leena threw a napkin at him before he could finish his opinion of the Raynos pilot. 

            "Fine." Leena said, taking a bite of breakfast. "But you're just scared." 

            Bit rolled his sea-green eyes. "Right. Scared. Of some girl?" 

            "Yep." Leena waved her fork around. "Brad told me once that men will face death, charge into machine gun fire, but woe is the man that makes a fool of himself in front of a woman he likes. Apparently it's a fate worse than death." 

            "Look-" 

            "You're scared, Bit Cloud." Leena's violet eyes were dancing. "And you can't admit it." 

            Bit looked ready to commit murder right there and then, when Jamie and Brad joined them at the table. 

            "What's wrong?" Jamie asked, looking at Bit's face. "What'd you say Leena?" 

            "Me?" Leena looked completely innocent. "What makes you think-?"

            "Whatever." Brad muttered. "What is she teasing you about Bit?" 

            "Nothing." Bit growled. "Let's just eat breakfast, okay?" 

            "You should go talk to Jade." Leena said, after a few moments. 

            "Who?" the three boys asked. Leena sweatdropped. 

            "Bit!" she shouted. "We met her yesterday and you can't even remember her name?!" 

            "Well, excuse me!" he shouted back. 

            Brad and Jamie sighed. 

            "Excuse me." 

            Everyone looked up to see Harry. He smiled. 

            "All right if I join you?" 

            "Yeah." Leena answered. Jamie scooted his chair over so that Harry could sit next to her. 

            "Thanks." Harry grabbed a chair from another table and sat down. "How's it going?" 

            "Pretty good." Brad answered neutrally. "You?" 

            Harry smiled and nodded. 

            "There's a lot more people here at the resort than at first." Jamie commented. Harry nodded again, seemingly not talkative. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

            "Jade?" Sky shook the girl a little. 

            "Hmm?" Jade blinked her blue eyes. "Yeah?" 

            "Kirin and I are going to the hangar." Sky said. "You coming?" 

            Jade looked past Sky at her brother. He shook his head in the negative, and Jade tried not to smile. 

            "Nah." She said. "I think I'll stay out here for a while. I still have to eat this muffin anyway." 

            "Okay." Sky smiled. "Catch ya later." 

            "Bye." Jade waved.      

            "Thanks, sis." Kirin murmured as he left. Jade shook her head. 

            "Hopeless." She said, smiling. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "She's alone." Leena said. "You should go talk to her now." 

            "About what?" Bit answered, in an exasperated way. 

            "I dunno." Leena shrugged. 

            "Ask her how she is, does she like the resort. Does she have a Zoid? If so, what type and are there any modifications? Does she battle? Does she like it? What about family?" Harry said. "Just make small talk." 

            Everyone stared. He looked at them. "What?" 

            "I don't believe this." Bit muttered. "I'm taking romantic advice from Harry Champ of all people." 

            "What?" Harry leaned forward, green eyes wide with curiosity. 

            "Nothing." Leena commented. "Bit's just being stupid." 

            "Oh." 

            Bit sighed. "You're obviously not going to leave me alone, so-" he stood. "I'm going." 

            Leena smiled. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Jade picked at her muffin. She wasn't hungry either. Sighing, she pushed the plate away. Bit stood behind her, for once, at a loss for words. 

            "Not hungry?" he finally asked lightly. Jade spun around and looked up at him. 

            "Oh, Hi." She said shyly. "And no, I'm not. I'm not a morning person." 

            "Me neither." Bit admitted. "Can I-?" 

            "Oh, yeah. Go ahead." 

            Bit smiled and sat down. "Um, how are you?" 

            "Tired." Jade said. "But fine. What about you? That bruise looks like its fading." 

            "Yeah." Bit nodded. 

            "How did it happen?" Jade asked. "I mean, if you don't mind me-" 

            "No, that's okay." He said. "I wasn't paying attention and ended up hitting a tree root or something and um…ended up getting rammed into another one." 

            Jade's eyes were wide. "And you didn't see a doctor?" she asked. 

            "Didn't think I needed too." 

            Jade looked as if she was sure if she should laugh or scold. "Oh." 

            There was a pause. 

            "You didn't think you needed a doctor." Jade said. 

            "No…?"

            She looked at him. "You're crazy." 

            "So I've been told." Bit commented. She smiled again. 

            "Are you a Zoid pilot?" she asked. 

            "Yeah."  
            "I figured." She said dryly. 

            "Hey!" Bit said in mock-offense. She laughed. 

            "Kidding. You own a Organoid, right?" 

            "You've done your homework, I see." Bit grinned. 

            "That's why your name sounded familiar." Jade said. "I'm a pilot too, but we're new-comers." 

            "We?" 

            "My brother Kirin and I. Our other team-mate is Sky Williams and she seems pretty experienced." Jade said. "We're here for the tournament." 

            "Maybe we'll meet each other." Bit said. 

            "Yeah, maybe." Jade said, looking down. There was a pause. 

            Bit looked around. 

            "It's nice here." He commented. 

            Jade nodded, but didn't offer any comment. 

            "Jade?" 

            "Yeah?" she looked up at him. 

            "Nothing." He said, not sure why he had said her name in the first place. 

            "Oh."  Jade looked at the lake again. "It's so big." 

            "Not as big as the ocean." Bit said. 

            "You've seen the ocean?" Jade asked. 

            "Yeah." 

            Jade's eyes were wide. "What's it like?" 

            "Well, it's…really big. I mean, when you look at it, you feel really small and you realize just how big the world really is. It just stretches out as far as you can see, like there's no end to it. And when the sun hits it, it sparkles so bright, you can even look at it anymore." 

            "Wow." Jade sighed wistfully. "I've always wanted to go to the ocean. I love water." 

            "Really?" Bit asked. Jade nodded. 

            "Yeah. I just hate swimming." 

            Bit began to laugh. After a few moments, Jade did too. 

            "Pretty silly I guess." She said. 

            Bit shrugged. "Ever been on a water bike?" 

            "No." Jade shook her head. "And I don't think you should either, considering your record." 

            Bit rolled his eyes and she laughed again. "Okay, so would a boat be safe enough for you?" 

            "You're asking me to go out on the lake with you?" Jade asked. 

            "Yeah." Bit said. "Want to?" 

            Jade was quiet for a moment, then smiled. "Yeah, okay. Sounds like fun." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Thunderstorm – Cool! I like that idea a lot. I will use it; but not till the later half probably. ^__^ Thank you. **

**December – Yup! There aren't enough around and I like them so much…Really? Good. *sighs with relief* And I'm glad you like the OC's. Me and my friend worked hard on making sure that they were realistic. Um, yes, he is deaf by the incident. I think it's brought up later, if not in this chapter. Oh, if you have any suggestions, plz tell me! Titling things is my major weak point. ^__^**


	3. Three

Jaid: Hi everybody! Thank you all for the wonderful reviews. *gets starry –eyed* I got reviewed by Mookie and Wolfcking of all people. I'm so happy! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

            "I wonder how Bit's doing." Leena commented. "What do you think, Harry?" 

            "Hmm?" 

            Leena frowned, as they walked along the docks. "You don't seem to be listening to me very well." 

            "Sorry." Harry blinked. "I'm just…a little preoccupied." 

            "Why?" Leena asked. 

            "Family." 

            "Oh." Leena looked at the lake. "What happened? You run out of money or something?" 

            "Not really." Harry answered. "I have some." He bit his lip. "Leena, would your dad be interested in buying another Zoid?" 

            Leena looked at him, then shrugged. "I don't know. Probably." She began walking again and Harry fell into step with her, offering his arm. Taking it, she said, "Why? Do you have one to sell?" 

            "Yes." Harry answered. 

            "What type? I think Dad wanted to get another flying one for Jamie." 

            "It's ground-type." Harry said. "Besides, you're going to need a new one."        

            "Yeah, you're right." Leena nodded. "But what is this about buying another Zoid? I mean you collect them like-" She broke off and stared at him. 

            "Harry," she asked. "You're not…?" 

            "I don't have a choice really." He stated. "My Father's pulling my allowance unless I go back home. I figure, that if I sell my Zoids and thier weapons, I can have enough to live on for awhile, while I look for a job. Something in computers or mechanics or engineering I guess." 

            "But…" Leena looked down. "You wouldn't be battling anymore?" 

            Harry sighed and avoided her glance. "No, well maybe." he said. "I do love battles, but I don't have the heart to rebuild Benjamin or Sebastian, and I can't look for new team-members a week before a tournament. Besides my hearing…" his voice trailed off. 

            "But then, we, I mean-" Leena blinked. "We wouldn't see each other that often." 

            "No, that is a downside." Harry admitted. "But we can write and we'll still be friends, right?" 

            "Yeah." Leena smiled. "You'll be our friend. You did save my life after all." 

            They began walking again, but it was a quiet trip. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "Hey, Brad!" Bit shouted from the lounge. "Where do you rent boats around here?" 

            "You have money to rent a boat?" Brad answered, attempting to read a message that Naomi had sent him. 

            "Not much." Bit said, standing in the doorway of Brad and Jamie's room. "You don't have any I could borrow, do you? I'll pay you back." 

            "Why do you want a boat?" Brad asked, eyes not leaving the computer screen.

             "Jade likes the lake." 

            Brad turned, to see a very sheepish-looking Bit. "This is the girl you were steadfastly trying _not to talk to?" _

            "Yeah, so? She's nice." 

            Brad sighed and shook his head. "I can lend you a little bit, but not much. You'll have to ask Harry about the boats." He stood and grabbed his wallet. Handing some cash to Bit, he raised an eyebrow. "Try not to blow it all at once, okay?" 

            "Funny." Bit muttered as he took the money. "Thanks." 

            "You're paying me back. With interest!" Brad called as he sat at the computer again. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Leena closed the door to the room she shared with her father and sat on her bed. Dr. Tauros was at the desk, working at the computer. 

            "Something wrong?" he asked, not looking at her. 

            "Why would something be wrong?" Leena said, hugging her pillow. 

            "Because, when something's wrong you usually yell at Bit, or if he's not available, then you come into whatever room you have and hug that pillow." He said, then turned. "You're my daughter. I do know a little about you. Not much but a little." 

            Leena rolled her eyes and Dr. Tauros chuckled. Standing he came over and sat next to her. "What's wrong? Not feeling well?" 

            "No, I feel fine." Leena said. "I just…Harry's giving up Zoid battling." 

            "Ah. Well, that's a shame. I'll miss him." Dr. Tauros said. "He going back to his family?" 

            "No!" Leena shook her head. "He's going to try to find a job. But…" She looked down. "I thought that…well, maybe he'd join us. I know he's somewhat of an idiot, but I just got…" 

            "Used to him being there?" Dr. Tauros suggested. Leena shrugged. 

            "I guess. I mean," she sighed. "He was with me while I was in the coma and when I woke up, he was the first person I saw. And then after every surgery, he was always the last to say good-bye and the first person to say hello when I woke up. At first, it was a little annoying, but…I liked the attention. And sometimes, when you guys were off trying to get bills paid and find places to stay and take care of the Zoids and he was the only one there, I was glad that he was there. I would have been really lonely if Harry had left too." Leena gave a dry laugh. "I can't believe I'm saying this." 

            Dr. Tauros looked away. "I can." He said softly. "I expected this eventually." 

            "Expected what?" 

            Dr. Tauros looked at her. "Nothing." He said quickly and smiled. "Don't worry about it, sweetie." He stood and kissed the top of her head. "You can write to him and there will be times we'll see him, I'm sure." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

            Kirin bit his lip again and gave a sideways look to the dark-haired woman beside him. Sky was concentrating on her work, her turquoise eyes never leaving the job she was doing. Kirin sighed. 

            "What's wrong?" Sky asked, eyes still on her Zoid's insides. 

            "Nothing." Kirin said quickly. "Just,…I'm kinda worried about Jade." 

            "Why?" Sky looked up for the first time. 

            "Well, she's just seemed kinda depressed lately." Kirin mused. 

            "Doesn't she have hormonal blues now and then?" 

            Kirin thought. "Yeah." He admitted. "But you know, she's my sister and I guess I like it better when she's happy." 

            Sky smiled. "She'll get over it, I'm sure." The woman turned back to her work and there was silence for a while. 

            "Sky?" 

            "Yes?" 

            "Do you have any family?" Kirin asked. Sky's face became stoic. 

            "No," she said softly. "I don't." Then she turned away again. Kirin looked down and bit his lip. 

            "Do you?" Sky asked after a pause. Kirin looked back up. 

            "Do I what?" 

            "Have a family besides Jade?" She smiled. 

            "Yeah." Kirin grinned. "Probably take you all day to tell all about 'em too." 

            "Well?" Sky cocked her head, eyes as bright as her smile. 

            "Well…" Kirin said slowly. "There's Mama and Papa. And Aunt Esponsisa, Uncle Jack, Aunt Mary, Uncle Cory and let's not forget the cousins…" 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

            "The offer is tempting, Harry, but I just can't afford it right now." Dr. Tauros admitted. Jamie hoped he had a straight face on. He just couldn't remember a time when the Doc or Leena for that matter, had ever refused to buy something. 

            The sandy-haired man sighed. "I understand." 

            "I wish we could work something out." The older man said. Harry nodded. 

            "Believe me, I understand." He said again. "I have to get going…" 

            Jamie and Tauros stood. 

            "Of course." Dr. Tauros said. He held out a hand and Harry shook it. "We'll see you around then?" 

            Harry smiled a bit tightly and nodded, then left. Jamie and Tauros sat back down. 

            "If we win in the tournament, I might consider it." Tauros said. 

            "Because then we'll have the money?" Jamie asked. Tauros shook his head. 

            "No," he answered. "Because without a Zoid, Leena doesn't have an excuse to be out in the ring." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

            Jade hummed to herself as she put on some light pink lipstick. The door opened and she heard Kirin's voice as he and Sky entered the girls' room. 

            "So, anyway, Jade just gave him one of her glares and-" Kirin stopped as he stuck his head in the doorway. "Hey sis." He frowned. "Where are you going?" 

            "Hmm?" Jade looked down at her nice black pants, high-heeled boots and then at the silk shirt that was the same color as her eyes, and looked back up again. "What?" 

            "Where are you going?" Kirin asked again. Jade turned back to the mirror and put on a pair of hoops and a silver necklace. 

            "Out." She answered. 

            "Where?" 

            Jade scowled. Kirin was beginning to sound exactly like Dad. 

            "On a date." She answered finally, while running a brush quickly through her thick, curly hair. 

            "With who?" 

            Jade turned. "You're in my way." 

            Kirin crossed his arms. "Who are you going out with?" 

            Jade sighed. "The pain-medication guy." 

            Sky started to laugh. 

            "Blondie?" Kirin grimaced. 

            "His name is Bit." Jade said, rather defensively. "And he asked me this morning, after you guys left. Now if you'll excuse me…?" 

            "Bit?" Kirin repeated, rather redundantly. "What kind of a name is Bit?

             Jade glared at him and put on a black jacket, then grabbed her purse. "I should be back in a few hours, Sky." 

            "Okay." Sky answered. Jade smiled and left the room. Sky looked over to the bathroom and cleared her throat. 

            "If you don't mind," she said. "I'd like to take a shower." 

            Kirin blinked, blushed and moved out of the way. "I'll see you at dinner I guess." 

            "Okay." 

            "Right." Kirin mumbled and left the room. Sky frowned. 

            _What's up with him?_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Leena raised her hand to knock on the door when it opened and she was met by the rather startled look of Bit. 

            "Uh, hi." He said. 

            "You look nice." She commented, and then grinned. "Oh, I see. Going out with Jade?" 

            Bit mumbled something under his breath that didn't sound so complementary, but that only made Leena's grin get bigger. She moved out of his way. 

            "Have fun!" she said cheerfully. 

            "Excuse me?" a soft voice said. Jade stood there. "Hi Leena." 

            "Hi." Leena strove to keep from giggling. _Bit always looks exactly like a tomato when he's mad!_

            "Ready to go?" he asked Jade. The tiny girl nodded. Bit stepped out and Leena went into the room. 

            "You kids have fun!" she said cheerfully. Jade smiled over her shoulder and Bit muttered under his breath again. Leena shut the door and then collapsed with laughter. Brad and Jamie looked up from the TV. 

            "You okay?" Brad asked. 

            The red-haired girl nodded with some difficulty. "Did you see his face?" she gasped. "I thought he would explode." 

            Jamie smiled and shook his head, while Brad just rolled his eyes. 

            "He's going to kill you later, y'know." The long-haired man commented. 

            "As if he could." Leena said, standing. "Phew. Next time, remind me to collapse on the couch and not the floor." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(A week later)

            "We ready?" Kirin asked. Jade looked up and nodded. 

            "Just about." She called. "Lemme ask Sky." 

            "I'm ready." The dark-haired woman called. She jumped lightly to the ground and looked at Jade. "We need to leave soon, so if you want to say good-bye, you'd better do it." 

            Jade nodded and left the hanger. Kirin watched her go, then sighed, shaking his head. Sky looked at him. 

            "What's wrong?" she asked. 

            "I…" Kirin shook his head again. "It's just…I don't know. I guess my over-protective brother genes are kickin' in, y'know? I mean, I've never had this trouble before; Jaid never took that much interest in guys." 

            "Well why shouldn't she?" Sky asked as Kirin climbed down. "She's what, nineteen? Some girls are married by that age." 

            "Don't remind me." Kirin commented dryly. Sky laughed and Kirin did too. 

            "I guess I see her as a kid sometimes." 

            "Not hard to do." Sky admitted. "She's so short and innocent looking." 

            Kirin laughed. "Yeah, but don't ever say that to her face." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "Bit?" 

            The young man looked up and smiled. "Hey, Jade." 

            Jade grinned back. "Hey." 

            Bit stood up and walked over to her. "What's up?" 

            "I'm going to be leaving in a few minutes, so-" 

            "This early?" Bit asked. "I thought you said you weren't leaving till tonight." 

            "We were, but…" Jade shrugged. "Kirin decided to pull out early. Sky says it's a good idea; we'll get a better hanger for cheaper if we go to the battlefield early." 

            "Oh." Bit blinked. His own team had always used their hovertransport…

            "I just came to say good-bye." Jade said quickly, breaking into his thoughts. 

            "Right." Bit said. Somehow it didn't seem real; the past week he had spent with Jade didn't seem like enough. 

            Jade bit her lip at the awkward silence and inwardly wished she wasn't so short. It was hard to keep looking up at him, trying to gauge his reaction. 

            "Um, good-bye?" she said. 

            "Yeah, bye." He answered, sounding slightly dazed. There was an awkward pause, then Jade turned and began to walk away. 

            "Jade, wait!" 

            She turned. Bit walked over to her and hesitantly placed his hands on her shoulders. "I'll see you there, right?" 

            "Yeah, I guess so." 

            Bit grinned. "So, you'll be free for dinner or something?" 

            Jade looked at him and her eyes lit up. "You bet!" 

            Bit's grin got wider. "So, I'll see you later then." 

            "Yeah." Jade grinned back. "I'll see you in town." 

            Bit nodded. "Good." 

            "Um," Jade said after a moment. 

            "Oh." Bit removed his hands from her shoulders. "Sorry." 

            "That's okay." Jade said, began to turn, then turned back and impulsively hugged him. "Bye." 

            Bit hugged her back. "See you later." He softly corrected and heard Jade chuckle slightly. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "Hey, don't go in there!" Leena half whispered, half hissed. Brad and Jamie stopped. 

            "Why?" Jamie asked. 

            "Look." Leena pointed. Near the entrance, Jade and Bit were locked in an embrace. 

            "Oh boy." Brad muttered. He looked at Leena, who had a humongous grin on her face. 

            "Now you guys can't tease me anymore." She said, with obvious enjoyment. 

            Brad and Jamie rolled their eyes. 

            "How long are they going to be?" Brad asked. "I need-" 

            Leena smacked his arm. "You're not interrupting them for anything." 

            "He won't have too." Jamie sighed. "Look." 

            Bit and Jade jumped apart as Harry entered. The sandy-haired man seemed completely oblivious to the fact that he had interrupted an intimate scene. Face flushed Jade quickly said good-bye to Harry and left. Bit walked over to his Liger. 

            "Harry!" Leena moaned as he walked over. "How could you?!" 

            "Pardon?" Harry blinked in confusion. "What did I do?" 

            Brad patted him on the shoulder. "You'll soon find out, believe me." 

            "Yeah." Jamie put in, as he and Brad left. Harry turned back to Leena. 

            "What'd I do?!" he asked, starting to sound worried. Leena crossed her arms and scowled. 

            "Nothing." She muttered and walked away. 

            "Leena, wait!" Harry hastened after her. 

            "Poor guy." Jamie said, as he handed Brad a tool. "He has no idea what he's gotten into." 

            "Not many of us do." Brad sighed, thinking of Naomi. Shaking his head, he got back to work on Jamie's Raynos. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**I know, I know. Once again, not the best place to break off. I wrote this without thinking about how to divide it into chapters, so sometimes it falls in a lousy way. . Gomen, gomen. **

**And now for the monster Author's Notes…**

**Mookie – Thank you for your comments! Really? Oops, heh, heh. I could have sworn I heard Liger referred to as an Organoid at least once…oh well. My gosh, it is! Lol, that's funny, considering that was the first eppy I had ever seen. I don't think Mary is a "complete-you-know-what" either. I really hate it when people don't take time to think about her character and just portray her as a major ditz or as a huge b****. Oh really? I knew that the guy who played Harry also played Quatre (He plays Mousse from Ranma ½ too…^__^). What are the other two?**

**Thunderstorm – Thank you very much. I will, of course, give you credit for the armor…if I can figure out a way for Bit to have it. **

**December – lol, that's what my friend said. Shayna did a lot of Bit's characterization, because, to tell the truth, I had a really hard time getting into his head for some reason. You don't have to worry about that, December. I'm getting pretty good at making realistic OC's and I don't think I've had one that is perfect. I try really hard to present them as realistic, 3D people. But if I ever stray, I know I have a lot of people who will point that out and make me fix it. ^__^  And just so you are wondering, Jade isn't supposed to be me, even though we share the same name. I did base a few of her traits on myself (such as being moody, hee, hee) and I based her relationship with ****Kirin**** on the relationship me and my brother share, but that's about it. **

**Wolfcking – Wow! You reviewed! I'm so excited that you like it. Really? Thanx! I was a little worried about characterization…I really have only seen about five of the episodes, but my friend had seen two that I hadn't seen and my brother had seen three that I hadn't seen, so between the three of us, I think we were able to come up with something. (didn't confuse you there, did I?) Yeah, I usually am pretty good with background/scenery description, but it didn't flow into this fic for some reason. I think it gets better towards the end. I'm really glad you like my OC's! **

**Firestorm – Er, I'm not sure now if I'll even being using any new armor for Bit. I just don't think it will fit in. Both you and Thunderstorm had really good ideas tho! I couldn't really choose. **


	4. Four

**Jaid: Okay, in this chapter we actually get a…PLOT! Are we surprised? ^_^ lol. Kidding. Erm…if anybody has suggestion for tournament rules and such, please share them. I'm not very good with fighting scenes…**

**Oh, and sorry about no e-mail messages last week. Computer trouble…**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

            Xander sighed. "Still no trace then?" he asked. The young woman shook her head. 

            "No sir." 

            "Keep looking." He told her and walked away. 

            "Sir?" 

            Xander turned. His aide, Nira, stood there. 

            "Yes?" 

            "There's two men waiting in your office." She said quietly. "A Major Polta and Captain Corgen, sir." 

            Xander felt his chest constrict slightly. "Did they say why they came?" 

            "No, sir." 

            "I see." Xander thought for a moment. "Tell them I will be there shortly." 

            "Yes, sir." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            The woman flicked away the cigarette ash that littered her part of the bar counter and sighed. Two weeks. Two weeks and not even a speck of a job. Standing, she paid for her drink and left the building. 

            Once outside, she had to put up a hand against the mid-afternoon sunlight. The crowd milled around her and she could feel the excitement. Not many common people got to witness a real Zoid battle, and they couldn't wait to head to the arena. 

            Tucking a strand of brilliant turquoise hair behind her ear, her gaze fell on a familiar young man, who looked vaguely Hispanic. She stiffened. 

            _Well, well, well._ She thought. _The Wild Eagle himself.*_ Smiling, she watched as he tried to balance the various things he was holding, drop one, try to pick it up and spilling all the rest. Walking over, she said, "Need some help?" 

            "Yeah, tha-" the young man looked up. "You!" 

            The woman calmly picked up a tool and handed it to him as he stood. "You just going to gawk at me or can you be civilized and say hello?" 

            The young man swallowed. "Sorry. Hello, Pierce." 

            "Hello…Jamie, wasn't it?" 

            "Yeah." Jamie looked at her, his brown eyes wide and puzzled. "What are you doing here?" 

            Pierce raised an eyebrow. "What, I can't enjoy a Zoid battle?" 

            "Well," slight suspicion had crept into his tone. "You usually have a different idea of 'battling' than most people." 

            "A pity you think that way." She softly commented, then turned. "See ya around, Wild Eagle." 

            Jamie watched her go, unaware of his surroundings. _Of all the people to meet…_

            "Hey, Jamie." Brad said, poking his shoulder. "You going to stand there all day, or come to the transport with me?" 

            "Huh? Oh, right." Jamie asked, a slight blush gracing his cheeks. 

            "Hey, is something wrong?" Brad asked. 

            "No! Nothing's wrong; why would you think that?" Jamie asked, walking quickly. Brad shook his head and walked after him. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "Ready yet?" Naomi asked. Leon grinned at her. 

            "I will be soon." He said, then looked towards the hangar door. "Looks like a fine day." 

            "Yeah." Naomi agreed. "I'll be back in a few, k?" 

            "Sure." Leon said, waving her away. Naomi smiled slightly and stepped out into the sunshine. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "Oooh, this is so exciting!" Jade said, eyes bright. Sky blinked at the very excited nineteen year old, then looked at Kirin. He shrugged, and then slugged his sister's arm. 

            "Hey, cut it out. You're driving Sky and me crazy." He said. "You've had too much sugar." 

            "Have not." Jade stuck her tongue out at him. "Two sodas are not enough to make me hyper. I'm just glad to be here, that's all." 

            "And this has absolutely nothing to do with a certain blonde haired pilot, right?"   
Sky asked in a deadpan, although her turquoise eyes were mischievous. 

            "Sort of- hey!" Jade glared and Sky burst into laughter. Kirin shook his head and put his arms around their shoulders. 

            "Let's head back and get ready, okay?" 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "I'll be cheering." Harry said. 

            "You're not fighting?" Jamie asked. 

            Harry shook his head. "Don't have a team, remember?" 

            "Oh yeah." Jamie said. 

            "Besides," Brad added. "Someone has to keep Leena happy during the fight; otherwise, she'll have more than our heads." 

            "Does she even know she's out of it?' Jamie asked. 

            "I think Doc's telling her right now." Brad said. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "Are we ready to roll?" Kirin asked. 

            "Ready." Jade said. 

            "Ditto." Sky answered. Kirin grinned. 

            "Let's do it." 

            The Command Wolf, Dibison and Gunsniper stepped out into the ring. Sky took a deep breath, willing herself to be calm, willing herself to remember that here she made her own decisions, that nothing was going to force her against her will. 

            "Here it comes, oh, I hope we do okay!" Jade said over the comm. Sky smiled. 

            "We will." She said quietly. "We will." 

            The judge announced the teams and then, the battle began. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "It is good to see you, sir." Xander said as the Major and Corgen rose to greet him. Xander couldn't help but feel uncomfortable; Corgen was a pale man and his eyes could seem colder than ice and sharper than steel. Polta on the other hand constantly wore a sort of visor that covered most of his face. It was un-nerving for the older man to stare into a face that had no eyes. 

            "And you, Xander." Polta answered easily. Corgen said nothing. Xander invited them to sit and took a chair himself. 

            "We came to look at your progress." Polta said, once everyone was seated. That was him; straight to the point without waiting for niceties. 

            "The system is the best anyone could offer." Xander said non-commitedly. "I, myself have never seen anything like it." 

            "Indeed?" Polta smiled. "That is good. And what exactly does this particular system do?" 

            "Surely you know by now?" Xander asked, surprised. "The council has not told you yet?" 

            "We preferred to hear its description from one of the creators, rather than those trying to market it." Polta explained. 

            "I see." Xander said quietly. "Well, it is a system that connects with a pilot's brain. I won't go into all the details and terminology, but I will tell you that the system is able to make a pilot into almost a machine. It takes consideration of a pilot's abilities, strengths and weakness, then does the same with the pilot's adversaries. Then, it boosts the pilot's ability to its maximum level. Each time a pilot experiences the system, his abilities are increased." 

            "Sound amazing to be sure." Polta said. "But are there any side affects? And where are the test pilots?" 

            "Ah…yes." Xander began to feel his chest constrict again. "Because the system hooks directly with a person's brain, it has caused some rather harmful side effects. In the best case, it causes them to suffer from depression, as well as insomnia from nightmares." 

            "And in the worst case?" Polta asked. 

            "In the worst case…" Xander swallowed. "In the worst case, the pilot cannot handle it. He goes into severe shock, and his body simply refuses to work." 

            "Thus killing him." Polta finished. "How often is the extreme case seen?" 

            "Not often." Xander assured him. "We've only had two pilots killed. The rest suffer from the small side effects and a few have had personality switches for up to a month afterward." 

            "How many did you test?" Corgen spoke for the first time. 

            "Fifteen sir." Xander answered. 

            "Two died. How many suffered from the insomnia and depression?" 

            "Six." 

            "How many from personality switches?" 

            "Four." 

            "Then there were three left. What happened to them?" Corgen asked. 

            "One was able to handle the system with almost no side effects." Xander told them. 

            "And the remaining two?" Polta asked. 

            "They went completely insane." Xander admitted quietly. "One became homicidal, killing and destroying everything in sight. The other…his brain simply shut down and he ceased to become a person. He still suffers from hallucinations." 

            "I see." Polta said, leaning back into his chair. "And is there any way to tell how a pilot will react?" 

            "Not that we know off." Xander told him. "We need to run more tests." 

            "Meaning you need more test subjects." Corgen commented, a slight hint of wryness in his tone. 

            "Yes." Xander admitted. 

            "What about this one that was able to handle the system from the start?" Polta asked. "Where is he? Could we talk to him?" 

            "I'm afraid not, sir." Xander said, the feeling in his chest becoming tighter and tighter. "She has escaped." 

            "She?" Polta sounded surprised. "A woman? How impressive." 

            "Escaped." Corgen said. "That doesn't help us much." 

            "I know." Xander told them. "I'm doing everything in my power to track her down." 

            "Then she is not a Backdraft member." Polta stated. 

            "No, sir. She was…a forced conscript." 

            Polta laughed. "Such a delicate way of putting it." He said, then stood. Corgen and Xander did as well. "Have your assistant give Corgen her description; we'll help you find her. If our cause is to be spread through Zi, we are going to need all the good pilots we can get." 

            "Yes, sir." Xander said, as they walked towards the exit. Polta stopped at the door and turned. 

            "Xander," he said. "Would you be averse to having more 'forced' conscripts to experiment on?" 

            "Not if that is what the Seven wish." Xander answered. Polta smiled again. 

            "A careful answer. I believe you will go far, Xander." He opened the door. "Good day." 

            "Good day." Xander answered, and then all but collapsed into his seat after they left. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "I'M NOT WHAT?!!!" Leena's voice echoed through the hallway. Even Harry winced. 

            "I guess she found out." Jamie commented. 

            "You think?" Bit said. "I don't ever think she's been that loud since-" 

            "Uh-oh." Jamie murmured. Leena was marching straight towards them, fire in her eyes. 

            "She'll have our heads." Jamie moaned. 

            "Yeah, and not just that." Bit agreed. Jamie moaned again. 

"Way to be encouraging, Cloud." Brad muttered. Leena stopped in front of them, and put her hands on her hips. 

            "Well, thanks guys." She remarked sarcastically. 

            "Wasn't my fault." Bit shoved his hands in his pockets. "I had nothing to do with it." 

            Leena turned her glare on Brad, Jamie and Harry. 

            "Look," Jamie began weakly. "You need to take things slow-" 

            "DON'T GIVE ME THAT, JAMIE HEREMOS!" Leena shouted. "How could you do this? I've been looking forward to a battle for months and now I'M ONLY ALLOWED TO WATCH?!" 

            "Leena, honey," Harry tried, stepping forward. 

            "Don't call me 'honey'!" Leena shouted at him. Crossing her arms, she scowled. 

            "I hate you." She stated and stormed away. The four males simply stood there, and then three of them looked at Harry. 

            "What?" he asked. "This isn't my fault." 

            "She's your girlfriend." Bit stated. "Go calm her down." 

            "Eh…" Harry looked nervous. "I maybe slow Bit, but I'm definitely not suicidal." 

            "Better get her before she does some damage." Brad suggested. 

            Harry sighed. He knew what kind of damage Leena could do when especially angry. Like when she thought he had stood her up on a date…Harry shuddered, then sighed. 

            "Okay, I'll go." He muttered. 

            "You're a brave man, Champ." Bit said with a straight face. 

            "Shut it." Harry growled, walking away. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "Yes!" Kirin shouted as he climbed out of his Dibison. Laughing Jade ran over to him as he got to the ground. Picking her up, Kirin spun her around. Sky walked up smiling. 

            "Quite a rush." Jade gasped, as Kirin put her down. 

            "Yes, it is." Sky agreed laughter in her voice. "You both did well for amateurs." 

            "Yeah, and…" Kirin grinned. "We won!" 

            Sky shook her head. "You kids. I just have to tell you, that it gets harder here on out." 

            "Ahh, we can handle 'em." Kirin said, grinning. Sky smiled. 

            "And who could stand against such confidence?" she asked, eyebrows raised. 

            "Exactly." Kirin nodded. Jade laughed. 

            "Quit it you two. We don't have another battle for about an hour. Let's go exploring." She said. "Come on!" 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

            "Leena?" Harry cautiously poked his head in the door, and then beat a speedy retreat as a shoe was thrown at him. 

            "Leena, try to calm down." Harry's voice was muffled by the door. "We don't have to watch the battle if you don't want too. I'm not able to battle either." 

            "I've been stuck in a damn hospital bed for six months, Harry! I hated it there; I wanted to be out in the arena and I got my hopes all up and now all I can do is watch, so excuse me if I'm a little disappointed, okay?!" Leena yelled. 

            "Well, let's do something else then." Harry suggested, wondering if it was safe to open the door or not. "We could…I dunno, take a walk or something." 

            "I don't feel like it." 

            _She's not yelling; that's a good sign. _Harry thought, easing the door open cautiously. "Can I come in?" 

            "Fine." Leena was sitting on her bed, facing the window. Harry walked up behind her. 

            "You're really disappointed, aren't you?" he asked. 

            "Go figure." Leena said sarcastically. Harry blushed in embarrassment. 

            "You just want to sit here?" Harry asked. Leena didn't answer. Harry sighed and sat next to her. 

            "Nice view." He commented. 

            "Harry, the blinds are close-" Leena looked up to see him grinning. "That wasn't funny." 

            "But you're still smiling." Harry said. Leena hugged her pillow tighter. 

            "Quite a scene you made." He said looking at the ceiling. "But then you always do." 

            "And just what is that supposed to mean, Harry Champ?" Leena demanded angrily. 

            _Oops, shouldn't have said that out loud._ He grimaced. "Nothing really. I just, uh, I mean…" he gulped, unable to come up with an excuse. "You always…um…I love you?" 

            Leena looked as if she wasn't sure if she should hit him with the pillow or burst into laughter at his obvious discomfort. She did both. 

            "I feel better." She decided standing. "But Jamie and Brad are going to get it. In the mood for playing a practical joke?" 

            "What sort of joke?" Harry asked. Leena grinned. 

            "Just follow me." She said, unconsciously grabbing his hand and leading him out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "Brad?" Naomi asked, coming into the hangar. 

            "Over here!" the man waved from his Shadow Fox. Naomi smiled and walked towards it. 

            "Ready to go?" she asked. 

            "Pretty much." Brad answered. "Just making sure everything's ready." 

            "Sounds smart." The woman smiled. "Leon is going to be really glad to see you all." 

            "I'll bet." Brad said. There was a lapse of silence as Brad put his tools away. Naomi handed them to him and he put them in the box. It being done, he closed it up and stood. 

            "How much longer before your first battle?" he asked. 

            "Not long. Took me a while to get here to wish you good luck. There's such a crowd." 

            "You want me to walk you back?" Brad asked. Naomi shrugged. 

            "You don't have to." 

            "I'd like to." Brad assured her. Naomi smiled. 

            "All right." She agreed, as they walked out. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Just a note. I have no idea if Pierce ever found out who The Wild Eagle was, but for the sake of making this easier on me, I'm pretending she found out. I can do that right? *looks around* Right guys?

**I hope you guys like this chapter. I'm cringing a little thinking of the next chappy, since it is the actual tournament. I just hope you guys are not too disappointed. **

**Thunderstorm – Okay, I have decided I will use both yours and Firestorm's armor, but one will be for Bit and I'll give another to someone else. Then it's fair and all. But not until later. **

**Wolfkcing – I think I spelled your name wrong last time. O.O Sorry! Thank you for the encouragement! It means a lot. Hee, hee, funny you should mention green hair…but I can't say any more. Yeah, that's what my friend and I thought. I hope you like this chapter as well. **

**Mookie – Goodness you leave long reviews! Not that I mind. ^__^ Yes. Like I told December last time, ****Kirin** and Jade's relationship is based on the one my brother and I share. He's very protective…a little too much some times. O.O I don't know much about ******Leon****. He seemed to be the one character we never got down, so I don't know how he'll turn out when he pops up later. Oh yeah! I thought Brad sounded familiar. ^__^ I haven't heard Richard Cox as Ranma, but hearing him as Inu-Yasha, I have a feeling I would agree. I like Sarah Stone's Ranma. Oh yeah! I just saw that episode! Poor guy with the monkey thing, lol. He was so cute and silly. You're right, he does seem to get those roles. **


	5. Five

Jaid: Hey! I'm back! Miss me? Lol. Here is a new chapter for you guys; thanx for all the wonderful reviews!

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            "The Blitz team versus the Blood Eagles!" the judge announced. 

            "Told you it was a good name." Kirin muttered to Sky and Jade as they watched in shield protected benches. The girls rolled their eyes. 

            "Please." Jade said. "If we had called ourselves that, then we have had to be called the Blood Eagles 2 or something." 

            Kirin snorted then turned his attention to the battle. The Blood Eagles had a Zabat, and a Command Wolf. Kirin whistled as the War King appeared. 

            "Talk about fire power." He muttered. "I want one of those." 

            "Hm." Sky agreed. "Probably doesn't have great speed though." 

            "Jade!" 

            The group turned to see Leena and Harry taking seats behind them. 

            "Hi, Leena!" Jade smiled. "How are you?" 

            "I'm just fine." Leena said, looking more cheerful than Jade thought she would. 

            "Hey Harry." Kirin said, nodding. Harry smiled back, a little wanly. They turned back to the battle. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Bit grinned as he and Liger ran forward to engage the Wolf. The wolf saw him coming and ran to meet him. 

            'Looks like this guy likes head on battles.' Bit thought. 'Fine with me.' 

            At the last minute however, the Wolf swerved out of the way and Bit stopped trying to recompense. The Wolf rammed into his side and managed to push Bit a little. Bit spun around with the push and faced forward, firing at the Wolf. It ran out of range. 

            Jamie, meanwhile, was engaged in an air-to-air battle with the Zabat. Jamie bit the inside of his cheek, almost wondering if his alter-ego would come out. 

            The Zabat interrupted his thoughts by firing bullets on him. Jamie pulled up, but the Zabat followed on his tail.

            "Hey Jamie!" Bit appeared on screen. "I'm all done here. What's takin' you so long?"   

            Jamie sweatdropped. "I'm doing my best." 

            Bit shrugged. "Okay. Whatever." 

            Jamie sighed as a bullet from the Zabat made contact. Speeding forward, he made a loop to come around behind the Zabat. The Zabat's pilot swerved away, but Jamie followed, firing. 

            "You know if you aim, you have a better chance." Came a laughing voice. It was the owner of the Zabat. She grinned at Jamie. He smiled wanly back. 

            "No hard feelings." He said, shooting a missile. The woman's dark eyes widened in surprise, then she shrugged. 

            "Oh well." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "Oh man, what a day." Jamie sighed as they entered their rooms. 

            "Yep and we've got all day tomorrow to battle to." Bit reminded him, grinning. Jamie smiled weakly back as Brad unlocked the door. Stepping in, he stopped as soon as he had turned on the light. 

            "Something smell funny to you?" he asked. 

            "Dunno. You won't let us into the room." Bit commented. 

            "Huh." Brad stepped aside to let them in. Bit and Jamie sniffed. 

            "Smells okay to me." Bit commented. 

            "I smell perfume." Jamie wrinkled his nose. Bit sighed, shrugged and went to open his bag. 

            "I get dibs on the bath room." Brad said, walking through the door. 

            "No fair!" Bit yelled as the older man closed the door. "You'll take forever Brad." 

            "Will not!" Brad shouted back. Bit growled and sat on the bed. Jamie was on his cot. A few moments later, he sat up sneezing. 

            "What's wrong?" Bit asked, standing. 

            "I-*sneeze*- I don't-*sneeze*- know!" Jamie cried. "I just-*sneeze*-started-*sneeze*" 

            "Yeah, I get the picture." Bit commented, walking over. "Lemme see…what is this stuff?" 

            "What-*sneeze*-do you-*sneeze*-mean?" Jamie gasped. 

            "This. It's all over your pillow, right under the cover." Bit explained. "Pepper?" 

            "Great-*sneeze*." Jamie moaned. Bit shook the pillowcase out in the garbage, but Jamie still suffered sneezing attacks. They were looking for a reason, when the bathroom door opened. Brad came out and Bit and Jamie's mouth dropped open. He looked at them. 

            "What?" 

            "Brad…" Bit began. "Uh…" 

            "Yeah." Jamie agreed, sniffing. Brad looked at them confused. Bit motioned to his hair. Brad went back into the bathroom. Bit and Jamie heard him scream. "GREEN?" Brad came back out, frantically looking through his stuff. 

            "Whatdya looking for?" Bit asked. 

            "A hat." Brad said. "To cover my now neon green head. I'm going to ask Leena where she was this afternoon." 

            "Well, Harry was with her…" Jamie began and the two men exchanged looks. 

            "Traitor." Brad growled. Finding the hat, he bunched his hair up under it and left. Bit grinned and shook his head, going to the door. 

            "Where are you going?" Jamie asked. 

            "I'm going to Jade's room. I'm hoping she'll let me borrow her shampoo. Frankly, I don't trust the one in our bathroom an inch." 

            Jamie nodded and stood. "I'm coming with you." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "This is weird." Sky shook her head at the TV. 

            "I think it's funny." Jade smiled, as they watched a cartoon. A knock sounded. 

            "I'll get it." Sky said. "It's probably your brother anyway." 

            Opening the door, she was greeted by the faces of Jamie and Bit. 

            "Oh, hi guys." She said. "What's up?" 

            "We need some shampoo." Bit answered, smiling. "Ours has been tampered with." 

            "Really?" Jade asked, coming up behind Sky. "You guys can come in by the way." 

            "Thanks." Bit said. Jamie smiled, but shook his head. 

            "I'll get some shampoo." Sky said. 

            "I think I'll go back." Jamie said. "See ya, Jade." 

            "Bye." Jade waved then closed the door. She and Bit sat on the sofa, while Sky went to get some shampoo.

            "What happened?" Jade asked. 

            "Brad took a shower first and came out with puke green hair." Bit said. 

            "Oh." Jade's hand flew up to her mouth, but her eyes were laughing. "I see." 

            "Yeah, so, Jamie and I thought we'd come over here and borrow some." Bit said. "Leena's going to get it, I'll bet." 

            "You guys think it's her?" 

            "Well, I don't think it was the Doc and unless you decided to go on a practical joke spree…" 

            Smiling, Jade shook her head. 

            "I didn't think so." Bit grinned. "Hey, I still owe you a dinner, right?" 

            "Sure, anytime." Jade said. 

            "Doing anything tomorrow night?" 

            "Not that I know of…I'd have to ask Sky." Turning towards the bathroom, she called, "Hey Sky! Get lost in there?" 

            "Nope. Just distracted." The dark-haired woman answered, coming out with a magazine in one and a bottle of shampoo in the other. Handing the bottle to Bit, she flopped down on an armchair. 

            "We doin' anything tomorrow night?" 

            "No, I don't think so…" Sky said. "Unless your brother is planning something."             

            "Okay, so I'm free." Jade told Bit. He grinned. 

            "Great! How about I pick you up here at about…seven?" 

            "Sure." 

            "Okay, see you tomorrow. Thanks for the shampoo!" 

            "bye." Jade waved as she closed the door. Sky smiled behind her magazine. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

            Pierce was walking through the hotel lobby when somebody bumped into her. 

            "Sorry." The man said. Pierce frowned and did a double take. 

            "You're the Blitz team's merc." She said. Brad inwardly grimaced. 

            "Yes. Sorry I bumped into you." He said, staring to walk away. 

            "Wait!" Pierce put a hand on his arm. An idea had struck her. "I saw you guys battle today. Not up to your normal standard, huh?" 

            Brad shrugged. "That happens when you lose a warrior." 

            "Could you take another?" Pierce let the words come out before she had a chance to change her mind. It was Brad's turn to do a double take. 

            "Excuse me?" 

            "I've been out of a job for a while." Pierce explained. "And I don't have a lot of funds left." 

            "Why don't you have a job? If I remember, you were a pretty good pilot, especially with a Storm Sworder." 

            "Can we discuss this somewhere else?" Pierce asked. Brad looked around at the lobby, then nodded. 

            _Guess my 'talk' with Leena'll have to wait._ He thought. "There's a little café down the street from here." He said, remembering it from the short lunch he had shared with Naomi. "We can go there." 

            "Okay." Pierce said, as she walked after him. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

            "What a day." Harry sighed as he entered his dark room. "Wonder if there are any messages." 

            Idly, he picked up his cell. There was a blinking phrase that stated there were two messages. Harry pressed on "play". 

            "Hi Harry!" Leena's voice came on. "Thanks for your help, I can hardly wait to see the reactions." She giggled. "Anyway, things are probably going to be hot around here for a while, so would you meet me in the lobby at seven thirty? It'd probably be safer for me to eat out. See you then, bye!" 

            Harry smiled. She actually wanted him to take her to dinner. That was a nice change. 

            "Hello Harry." Mary's voice was on the next message. "I'm just calling again to warn you that Father was not happy about your decision." 

            "I'll bet." He breathed. 

            "However," Mary continued. "He is willing to talk to you about it. We'll be there tomorrow afternoon. We'll meet you in the hotel lobby." There was a pause. "Look, I guess I should warn you, seeing as how you're my brother. Father isn't as concerned with this Zoid obsession you have, as he is with the way you are pursing that…girl. If I'm right, that's what he's going to be discussing the most with you." Another pause. "I'll be seeing you tomorrow. Good-bye Harry." 

            The message ended and Harry sat on his bed. He glanced at the clock. Seven twenty. Jumping up, grabbed his coat and wallet and headed out the door, his family problems temporarily forgotten. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "So." Brad began as soon as he and Pierce were settled. "You want a job with my team?" 

            "Yes." 

            Brad leaned back and cocked his head, studying her for a moment. "You know, I don't really have the authority to do that." 

            "I know." Pierce answered. "But maybe you could plead my case." 

            "What case?" 

            Pierce leaned back in her own chair and coolly examined him with her vivid green eyes. "Most don't hire me because they know of my background with the Backdraft. No one wants a pilot connected with a radical fanatic group." 

            "Okay." Brad said. "So, give me a reason to trust you. How do I know you're not still with the group?" 

            Pierce smiled. "You could wait and see." She suggested. 

            "No, I don't think so." 

            "I didn't think you would." Pierce's smile faded. "Maybe you would like to know why I left." 

            "That would be a start." 

            Pierce's face had become serious. "There's something happening there. Now, you know I don't agree with the ZBC; I think what they call 'battles' are more appropriately called 'skirmishes'. They don't test a pilot's true potential." 

            "I know all this." Brad interrupted. "We've been educated in the Backdraft's way of thinking." 

            Pierce's lips tugged at the corners. "All right, just so we have that down. Something else is happening. I'm not sure what. They've become more…obsessed if you will. I don't know…the level that they are striving for makes me un-easy." 

            "So you quit." 

            "Not exactly. One doesn't quit the Backdraft group; not nowadays. Let's just say I've dropped out of sight." 

            Brad leaned over the table. "Are they after you?" 

            "Maybe." 

            "Meaning you don't know." 

            "Maybe." 

            Brad sighed. 

            "Look, Hunter," Pierce said. "I can't give you the answers you want. I'm not even sure of them myself. Right about now, I figure the safest place for me is on a team." She let out a breath that was slightly shaky. Brad frowned. He'd only met Pierce once or twice, but she had always seemed a collected, calm sort of person; this woman in front of him was frightened, but hiding it exceedingly well. 

            "I'll talk to the Doc." He said. Pierce looked at him, slight surprise in her face. Then she smiled. 

            "That's all I ask." Standing, she handed him a piece of paper. "That's were I am." Turning, she walked away. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "I think we're pretty much trap free." Jamie said. 

            "I hope." Bit grumbled. "Is my face still red?" 

            Jamie looked at him. "No. You just look like you have a little sunburn, that's all." 

            "Great." Bit sighed. "You two make her mad and I suffer for it." 

            "I wonder just how she got that dye in our stuff without us knowing." Jamie mused. Bit turned on the TV. 

            "I don't know, but I think its payback time. What's a color that Leena really hates?" 

            Jamie thought. "I don't know." He admitted. "She likes bright colors; I guess she's not one for black or brown or something like that." 

            "That's not helpful." Bit grunted. "Well, better wait till Brad gets back. Maybe he'll have some ideas." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Brad knocked on the door. "Doc?" 

            "Come in." 

            Brad opened the door and walked in. Tauros looked up from the computer. 

            "Hat a new fashion statement, Brad?" he asked. Brad grimaced and took it off, allowing his long, now neon green hair to fall down. Doc just stared, opened his mouth closed it and then repeated the process several times. 

            "Leena?" he finally asked. 

            "I think so." Brad admitted. 

            "She went to the lobby about ten minutes ago; said she was meeting Harry." 

            "I do want to talk to her, but I have something to tell you as well." 

            "Oh?" Tauros nodded to a chair and Brad sat. 

            "I was looking for Leena in the lobby earlier and I bumped into Pierce." Brad began. Tauros nodded for him to go on. 

            "It seems she's falling on hard times and she needs a job." Brad spoke slowly. "Unfortunately, not many are willing to take her because of her past with the Backdraft, but she thought that maybe we would hire her." 

            Tauros leaned back. "I don't know." He said quietly. 

            "That's what I said. I asked her why she had quit the Backdraft, but she didn't give me a definite answer." 

            "Well," Tauros said. "What do you think?" 

            "Of what?" 

            "Of her answer." 

            Brad weighed his thoughts for a moment, and then spoke. "I think she's honestly scared of something. I also think that we're sort of a last ditch effort for her; she was surprised when I said I would talk to you about it." 

            "Hmm, and you feel that she's not the type to be easily frightened?" 

            "Yes." 

            Tauros was quiet. "I don't know." He said again. "She's a talented pilot and we could use her, but I don't know if it's worth the risk. I'll have to think about it." 

            "Yeah, I know." Brad stood. "See ya later, Doc." 

            "Good – night, Brad." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Erm…I'm not sure if Brad would take Pierce's word like that. I think he is probably the most down-to-earth character, but I still couldn't see him being very suspicious of her. Why? I have no idea…O.o

Thunderstorm – Um, okay. Thanx for the review…

Wolfkcing – Thanx for the advice; it really helped. My battle scenes still need a lot of work, but I'm coming along slowly. ^_^ 

Mookie – lol. Yeah, that's what first sparked it; the Zero system I mean. I've never seen that eppy and neither did my friend. Oh well! *sweatdrop* I loved writing these Leena/Harry scenes. Too much fun! ^__^

Angelus – Hiya! Wow, thanks for the compliments. I sure can't wait for more of your story! ^__^ 


	6. Six

**Hi. Long time, no see. I got busy with some things, but here is the next chapter. Enjoy!**

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            "Good morning." Kirin said as he joined Sky and Jade at their table. "What are we having?" 

            "I ordered you breakfast." Jade told him. "But you're late; we have only half an hour to get to the hangar now." 

            "We'll be on time; don't worry." Kirin promised. "So, what are we doing tonight?" 

            "I'm going to dinner with Bit." Jade said. 

            "I guess it's just you and me." Kirin grinned at Sky. She smiled and nodded. 

            "Are you taking the Dibison out again?" Jade asked him. He shook his head. 

            "Naw. Got a bit beat up; plus, I got to get more ammo for it. I'll use your Ptera for this round, k?" 

            Jade shrugged. "Whatever. Just don't crash it, okay?" 

            Kirin snorted in an offended way, while Sky grinned. 

            "I'll help you with the Dibison tonight." She offered. Kirin smiled. 

            "Thanks." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            A persistent knocking woke Bit from his slumber. Looking up, he saw Jamie still asleep and decided that it was Brad in the shower. 

            The knocking continued. Grumbling, Bit got up and opened the door. 

            "You." He growled. Leena smiled at him brightly. 

            "Sleep well?" 

            "Brad's going to kill you." 

            "I can handle it. How are the rest of you?" 

            Bit looked at her questioningly. "What's with the sudden concern for us?" 

            "Nothing." Leena said, violet eyes wide and innocent. "Thought I should tell you though, that Harry and Daddy are down in the restaurant and we're ready to order. I'm supposed to get what you guys want." 

            Bit held open the door. "Come in." 

            As Leena sat on Brad's bed, Bit went over to the cot and shook Jamie's shoulder. The young man tried to brush him away, but eventually woke up. Sitting up, he saw Leena. 

            "You're in trouble." He said sleepily. "That was mean, Leena." 

            "You two deserved it." She insisted. 

            "I didn't." Bit muttered under his breath. 

"What'd ya want to eat?" Leena asked Jamie. 

"Anything's fine." He said rubbing his eyes. Brad poked his head out of the bathroom. 

            "I thought I heard your voice." He said to Leena. "Bit, hand me my clothes." 

            Bit gave them to the mercenary, who presently came out. His hair was becoming brown again, but was still streaked with neon green. 

            "Nice fashion statement." Leena grinned. 

            Brad raised an eyebrow disapprovingly and nodded to Jamie. Jamie got up and went to the bathroom. 

            "Hey!!" Bit cried. "I wanted a shower next." 

            "Oh well." Brad said, pulling his shoes on. "I'm eating with Leon and Naomi this morning, by the way. Could you tell your dad, Leena?" 

            "K." she turned to Bit. "You?" 

            Bit was quiet. 

            "Hello, Zi to Bit." Leena waved her hand in front of his face. 

            "What?" He blinked. "Oh, sorry. Uh, nothing spicy. I don't really care." 

            "Okay." Leena stood. "See you in a few." 

            As soon as she left, Bit turned to Brad. "Hey, can I ask you a question?" 

            "About what?" 

            "How did you meet Naomi?" 

            Brad blew out a breath. "Just working. Met at a competition, that sort of thing." 

            "Do you love her?" 

            "I like her." 

            "That's not what I said." 

            "I know." Brad smiled wryly. "Why the sudden interest in my personal life?" 

            Bit shrugged and sat. "Just wondering. I'm kinda wondering where Jade and I will turn up." 

            "No harm in that. Everyone does." Brad said, standing. "You worried about it?" 

            "Nah." Bit said easily. "Just curious, y'know? But whatever happens, I'm enjoying it right now." 

            Brad smiled and shook his head. "See you at the hangar." 

            "K." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`__

            "I understand Hunter told you of my offer?" Pierce asked. It was later in the day, between battles. Dr. Tauros nodded. 

            "Yes, he did." 

            "But you're not going to take me." 

            "I wouldn't say that…" 

            Pierce shook her head and smiled calmly. "I can understand. You don't trust me." 

            Tauros was quite. "Well, we do have a good reason."   

            Pierce chuckled wryly at that. "I suppose." She stood, leaning her hands on the table they had been sharing. "I'll be seeing you around, I guess." 

            "Maybe sooner than you think." Tauros said, finally making up his mind. "What if I take you on a trial run?" 

            "You mean, like proving I'm trustworthy?" 

            "Well, you will be outnumbered. I'll risk it for a pilot of your skill." 

            Pierce's face cleared as the Doc stood and offered her his hand. 

            "Done." She said, shaking his hand. 

            "Good. We'll be leaving tomorrow morning, so meet us then." 

            "I will. Good day." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "Today is the day!" Kirkland declared. Lineback and Omari stared at him, then at each other, and then back at their leader. 

            "Today's the day for what?" Omari asked. Kirkland gave them annoyed glance. 

            "The day we start our winning streak, duh." He said. 

            "Oh." Omari and Lineback nodded smiling. 

            "Wait," Omari protested. "You said that last week." 

            "Well, I meant today." Kirkland said. "I mean it, Omari! We are going to be winners today." 

            "Who are we fighting?" Lineback asked, munching on a snack bar. 

            "Uhhhh…" Kirkland looked at Omari who shrugged. 

            "Don't look at me." 

            "You didn't get the schedule?" Kirkland yelled. 

            "I wasn't supposed too!" Omari protested. "Lineback was." 

            "Was not." Lineback spoke up in defense. "You said to leave things to you." 

            "Great." Kirkland huffed. "Some mighty Tigers Team we make. Can't even get a schedule." 

            "Excuse me?" 

            They turned to see a slender, dark-haired woman with a bemused expression on her face. 

            "Here, you can have my copy." She said. 

            "Thanks." Kirkland took it from her. "You on a team?" 

            "The Rouges." She answered. "See you later." 

            "Hmm?" Kirkland looked down at the schedule. Their next fight was with the Rouges team. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            The woman surveyed the crowd, her pale pink eyes looking for a particular person. Reaching up, she tucked some blue hair behind her hair. 

            "Any sign?" a voice murmured in her ear. 

            "No." she answered, barely moving her lips. "And next time, try not to sneak up on me like that." 

            A slightly chubby girl with short, jewel tone pink hair that was cut in a boyish do sat next to the woman with blue hair. 

            "You should have seen me, coming, Mai." She sniffed. Mai rolled her clear wine pink eyes. 

            "Oh, yes. I was paying mounds of attention, Keema. Where's Dinah?" 

            "Here." A girl with black hair and jewel tone purplish-pink bangs sat down. "I can't find anything either. Let's face it; they're not going to show up this time." 

            "I refuse to believe that." Mai answered stiffly. "All the signs pointed to here." 

            "And the signs may have been planted." Dina pointed out, her almond shaped black eyes still worriedly scanning the crowds. "Keema didn't see anything, did you Keema? Keema?" 

            "I'm hungry." Keema stated, looking wistfully over at a young man who was selling caramel popcorn. "Can we eat something?" 

            "Gee, I wonder why she hasn't seen anything." Mai said wryly. "Hmm, look who we have here?" 

            "Pierce." Dinah said. "Looks like we've caught up to her. Do we talk?" 

            "Not just yet." Mai decided. "I want to see what she's up too first. After all, no point in flushing out our quarry just yet." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Jade turned her Command Wolf around as one of the Saber Fangs they were fighting shot at her. Weaving right and left, she felt her adrenaline pumping as she dodged the shots. From above, Kirin added his own shots, disabling the Saber Fang to her left. Sky had already taken out the third, but Jade wanted to take this one for herself. 

            Ramming it, she shot till the judge announced it disabled. As she felt the adrenaline drain from her system, Kirin's face appeared on her screen. 

            "Hey, sis, get a load of this. The team's called the Fuzzy Pandas." 

            "I thought that they were the Tigers?" Sky cut in, also appearing. 

            "I'll ask 'em." Jade said.

            She called up another view screen and was met with the face of a young man. 

            "Are you the Fuzzy Pandas?" she asked frankly, and was surprised as the man gave a half groan half scream. 

            "Tigers! The Mighty Tigers Team!!!" he exclaimed. 

            "Ooookay, thanks." Jade said quickly, cutting the connection. 

            "That guy was a little irritated." Kirin commented. 

            "You would be too if you were on a team called the Fuzzy Pandas." Sky said. 

            "Tigers." Jade corrected. 

            "Fuzzy Pandas has a nicer ring." 

            "Okay, look." The man appeared again. "We are the Mighty Tigers team! Not Fuzzy Pandas! What is wrong with you people?!" He disappeared before they had time to answer. 

            "Hey." Bit's face appeared. "You might want to get off the field, J. Class S warriors are coming on now." 

            "Oops, sorry." Jade smiled. "We were trying to figure out what the other team's name was." 

            Bit grinned. "And did they tell you?" 

            "I think so." Jade smiled back. "Tonight at seven, right?" 

            "Right." 

            "Bye." Jade said, before she cut the connection. Kirin's eyebrow rose. 

            "J?" he asked. Jade blinked. 

            "It's a nick-name!" she exclaimed, directing her Wolf off the arena ground. 

            "A nick-name." He continued. 

            "Kirin!" 

            Sky's laughter came over the speakers. "Quit it you two. Let's get out of here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "You can be so irritating." Mai growled as she gave Keema some popcorn. The pink-haired girl grinned happily. 

            "Thank you, Mai." She said. Mai growled again as she sat. Dinah smiled slightly but then looked back down at her palm pilot. 

            "Hmm…" she frowned. 

            "What?" Mai asked. Dinah was looking around the crowd. 

            "Pierce isn't the only one around. My scanner's picking up Storm Sworders." 

            "They wouldn't attack a rally like this. That's dumb!" Keema said. 

            "They might not be the Backdraft." Mai pointed out. "There are other factions out there." 

            "Oh." Keema blinked and then munched on her popcorn. Mai gave a frustrated sigh and looked at Dinah. 

            "Any ideas?" 

            "Notify the authorities anonymously and then get to our transport." Dina said. Mia nodded and grabbed Keema's popcorn. 

            "Hey, I was eating that!" she protested as Mai grabbed her by the arm and pulled her from the seating area. 

            "Too bad." The blue haired girl said, tossing the carton into the trash. 

            "You're mean!" Keema whined. 

            "And you're an airhead." Mai muttered. "Now let's go!" 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Xander looked at the young girl who was shaking in the corner of the room they had locked her in. She was slender to the point of being thin, pale, with enormous almond shaped mahogany eyes and ankle length dark violet hair. A very pretty creature. Xander sighed. He looked at the next one. A young man, with long, black hair in a ponytail and dark blue eyes. 

            "Do we hook them up?" Nira asked. Xander nodded. Nira nodded to two of the guards and they went in to the girl's room. Grabbing her by the arms. She yelped, but then struggled. However, she was too small and they managed to drag her out. 

            The young man came stiffly, though he didn't struggle like the girl. When she saw him, she cried out, "Jack!" 

            He looked at her and his face softened somewhat when he saw her tears. The girl continued to struggle, but it was only half-hearted. The young man, Jack, looked at Xander and the hardness returned to his eyes. 

            "Take them in." Xander said. 

            "What are you going to do to us?" the girl said. Xander didn't answer, but turned to the computer display as the two of them were hooked up. 

            "Start the young man first." Xander directed. A man nodded and started the program. Half an hour later, they stopped. 

            "Effects?" Xander asked. 

            "Sailed through. Not even a blip on the screen." Nira answered. "Name's Jack Hanson." 

            Xander nodded. "Good, have him locked up in here. We'll finish with the girl and then take them back." 

            The guards brought Hanson in. He seemed exhausted and meekly sat where the guards told him. Xander nodded and the program started on the girl. At first it went well, but twenty minutes in, the girl gave a long drawn out scream and abandoned her controls. The program was shut off and the guards brought the girl in. 

            They half dragged, half lifted her into the room. A medic rushed to the young girl, who was breathing in shuddering half sobs and retching. 

            "Rachel." Hanson stood, but he couldn't reach her. 

            "I need to take her to the medical bay." The doctor said. "Now." 

            Xander nodded to the guards and they followed the doctor with the girl. Hanson turned on Xander, his eyes full of fire. 

            "Is that what this is?" he demanded. "Is that why we were forced here? To be the Backdraft's guinea pigs?" 

            "Take him back." Xander ordered. 

            "Like hell I'll be reduced to that." Hanson snarled and barreled into the first guard, knocking him back into the second. Grabbing one of the guns in his manacled hands. Hanson first shot the view screen window, then one of the guards that rushed him. He ran out the door. 

            "Catch him!" Xander shouted. "Don't let him get away!" 

            The other guards pounded after the young man. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Mai pushed her sunglasses up on her nose as she sat in her Viper Zoid. Above her, Dinah soared in her Raynos and below Mai, Keema burrowed through the sand in her Hammer Shark. 

            "Any sign of them?" Mai asked. 

            "No." Dinah's face appeared on the screen. "I'm certain that they were here, though." 

            "I don't doubt you, but if they're not showing up…" Mai trailed off. Dinah sighed. 

            "I know." She frowned. "They must have upgraded those cloaking shields." 

            "We're just lucky that they can't do much together when cloaked like that." Mai told her. "We'll scout around a bit more and then take turns until the rally is over. You, me, then Keema, got it?" 

            "Yes ma'am." Dinah answered. "I'll tell Keema." 

            "Thanks." Mai said, directing her Viper back to the Rally. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

            Xander ran up, breathing heavily. Breaking through the ring of guards, his shoulders fell. Jack Hanson lay on the ground, eyes vacantly looking upwards, while lying in a pool of blood. 

            "Sorry, sir." A young guard said shamefacedly. "But he got me by surprise and I don't know – I panicked. I didn't mean to shoot him." 

            Xander nodded, then looked at the medic who had run up with him. After a few moments, the medic looked up. 

            "I might be able to save him." He said. "But I don't know if he'll be able to walk properly or not afterwards." 

            "Take the chance." Xander ordered. The medic nodded and two guards came forward with a stretcher. 

            "Take the manacles off." The medic said. "He won't be running too soon." The guards nodded and walked away. Xander stopped the medic. 

            "What about the girl?" 

            "She's recovered somewhat. No permanent brain damage. You might want to try her again." The man said. Xander frowned. 

            "What do you mean?" 

            "Meaning I don't see any signs of permanent damage. There's shock of course, but really her reaction had more to do with her fear of being captured rather than the program itself, I believe." The medic explained. "You'd probably have to get a specialist though." 

            "I think I will. What's the girl's name?." 

            "Rachel. Rachel Hughes." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**And the plot gets a little thicker. ^__^ **

**Nabooru – Yeah, I'll have to admit Harry is rather OOC, but that's because I decided it was time for him to grow up a bit; and not only that, being half deaf must have taught him some patience. Lol, you'll see. Glad you enjoyed it!**

**Thunderstorm – lol, yes she does! Glad you liked it!**

**Wolfcking – Thanks! Those are good reasons; lol, I probably should have thought of them before. *shrugs* Oh well, I'm just glad it was believable. Thank you very much for your compliments. ^__^  *sigh of relief* Good. I hope these ones weren't too bad; but there was barely any in here so…**


	7. Seven

**Jaid: Hi guys! Well, after a very long absence, I am back. Here is chapter 7 for you all. **

*********************************

"Harry!" 

            The young man turned to see Mary waving at him. Beside her, were his parents. Harry sighed. It was time for the inevitable. Leena, who had been talking to Bit and Jamie, tugged on his arm. 

            "Come on, what'd you stop for?" she asked. 

            "I have to go, Leena." He said. 

            "Why?" 

            Harry nodded his head to the Champ trio near the door. 

            "Oh." Leena said in a flat tone. She looked at him. "Well, see you later." She let go of his arm and walked away with the rest of the Blitz team. Harry sighed. He'd half hoped that she'd offer to come with him, but he supposed it was too much to expect. Turning, he walked towards his family. 

            Aiden and Leila Champ were both very handsome for their age. Aiden was tall, like his son, though at little more broad of build. He had hazel eyes that could seem golden, and black hair streaked with gray. A dignified goatee and mustache were also streaked with gray. He had a stern look about him, as if he were someone very much used to getting his own way and could be very imposing. 

            Leila Champ was blonde, like her daughter, with blue eyes. She somewhat resembled a fading flower; still beautiful, but out of her prime. Small and frail looking, she was of the weepy sort. It had been a long time before Harry became immune to her fits of emotion. 

            Mary naturally took after their mother, except that she was taller and infinitely more cheerful. Harry had turned out being the bridge between his parents with his neutral sandy hair and green eyes. Be that as it may, everyone agreed that he resembled his mother's side of the family, except for the famous Champ height. 

            "Hello, Mother, Father, Mary." He said dully, knowing exactly what was coming. "Nice to see you." 

            "And you." Aiden said, though his tone did not carry that conviction. "I wish to discuss some things with you, Harry. Perhaps over some lunch?" 

            "As you wish." Harry answered, as they began to move to the hotel's restaurant. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

            "You are joking." Mai moaned. Across from her sat twins, Daytona and Jim Brooks. Both were average height, slender, with black hair, dark blue eyes and olive skin. Daytona wore a red shirt, black pants and boots, a tan colored trench coat and a white scarf around her neck. Jim wore all black, except for blood red fingerless gloves and a dark blue trench coat. 

            "Afraid not." Jim said. 

            "What are we going to do about this?" Mai asked. "We can't just have people drop out of the blue like that." 

            "We know." Daytona said. "But we have no leads. It seems as if Jack Hanson and Rachel Hughes did just drop out of the blue." 

            "Any ideas?" 

            The twins exchanged looks, then looked back at Mai. 

            "We were thinking of an agent going under cover." She admitted. 

            "Isn't that risky?"  Mai asked. 

            "Very." Jim said quietly. "But it might be our only option right now." 

            "Without warrants, we can't look at any sort of records that the Backdraft might leave." Daytona said. "I'm afraid this is our only hope." 

            "Well, who is that agent going to be?" Mai asked. 

            The twins shared a glance. 

            "I've volunteered." Jim admitted quietly. Mai looked at him in shock. 

            "You?" she asked. "No offense, Jim, but you'd last two minutes." 

            "Maybe in a Zoid battle, but I'm much better at cloak and dagger sort of stuff." Jim responded with a smile. 

            "You're going to let him do this?" Mai looked at Daytona in shock. The young woman had a frown on her face. 

            "He insists." She growled. 

            "I'll be fine." Jim said. "Really, Daytona, sometimes you'd think I was two years old or something." 

            The usually impassive Daytona glanced at her brother and Mai saw her fear and anxiety that Jim would not return. 

            "What about me, Dinah and Keema?" she suddenly said. 

            "All three of you?" Jim asked 

            "Keema?" Daytona blankly echoed. "You're suggesting sending Keema?" 

            "Under Dinah's and mine supervision." 

            "No." Jim shook her head. "Keema has her purposes, but we've already established that she can't last for long under rigorous interrogation." 

            "So why let her become an agent in the first place?" Mia asked. 

            "Because you insisted." Daytona shot back. "You promised to take care of her. No offense, Mai but Keema-" 

            "Isn't really what is needed for this type of mission." Jim finished diplomatically, while shooting his sister a small glare. "Besides, you three have been assigned to the rally. If I don't go, then we have to choose between Peter, Mara, Emily, Seth, or Jackson. Peter is still very inexperienced to take this on. Mara's busy back in Terron City with the gang war. Emily and Seth are still recovering from that same assignment and Jackson…" he broke off with a sigh. 

            "Disappeared again." Daytona commented dryly. "Peter's ready to blow his top. I sent Channa and Salina to look for him." 

            Mai rubbed her temples, feeling like she was getting a headache. "Okay, whatever. You guys are the bosses, you decide." She stood. "Thanks for the heads up. I'm going back to the rally. I have to find Keema anyway." 

            "She's probably in the food court." Daytona commented dryly. Mai made a face. 

            "We just wanted you to know." Jim cut in before the two of them started to argue. "Be careful, Mai." 

            "You're telling me?" Mia snorted. "Take your own advice, Brooks." 

            Jim smiled softly and nodded his good-bye as she walked away. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "Where'd Harry go?" Jamie asked Leena. 

            "His parents are here and he has to go talk to them." She explained. "Your girlfriend's here, Bit." 

            Bit rolled his eyes, but smiled when he saw Jade walking up with Sky and Kirin. 

            "Hi." Jade said, giving him a hug. "How'd you do?" 

            "You weren't watching?" Bit asked. Jade shook her head. 

            "Emergency repairs." 

            "Oh. Well, pretty good actually. Hey, Brad." The blonde said, putting his arm around Jade's shoulders, as the long-haired mercenary walked up. 

            "Hey." Brad answered. "Has anyone seen the Doc?" 

            "No, not since our last fight." Jamie answered. 

            "He's over there." Sky pointed. 

            "Thanks." Brad said, then hurried over to the older man. The others frowned at each other.

            "What was that about?" Leena wondered, then looked at Jamie. "Jamie, you okay?" 

            Realizing that his mouth was opened, Jamie shut it. "Yeah, peachy. I'm going to my room now." With that, he scuttled away. Leena scowled and then they all looked over to where Tauros and Brad stood…with a very attractive, very familiar turquoise haired woman. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "Beat again." Omari sighed. "Kirkland, this is getting depressing." 

            Kirkland didn't answer. Lineback was eyeing the snack food bar. 

            "I'm hungry." He said. 

            "Come to think of it, so am I." Omari agreed. "Kirkland?" 

            "Let's go." 

            They walked over to the popcorn stand. A cute, slightly chubby girl stood there. She was about average height, with hazel eyes and short, punkish styled jewel tone pink hair. She was wearing a blue cropped T, a long gray vest and hip hugging bell bottoms. Various punk-like bracelets, rings and necklaces were on her, and her ears held more than ten earrings each. She caught them staring and sent them a cheery smile. 

            "Hi." She chirped. "Lovely day." 

            "Yeah." Lineback answered. Kirkland groaned inwardly. He sounded smitten. 

            "Keema!" Two women approached. The one who had shouted was tall and slender, with chin length light blue hair that had a pair of sunglasses perched on top. She had wine pink eyes and sharp features. She wore a plum colored tank top, and long fingerless gloves that were the same color. She also wore black pants and hiking boots. The second girl looked vaguely oriental, with her warm skin color and almond shaped black eyes. She was short and appeared to be slim. She wore a short black dress and knee length black boots, as well as a navy blue trench coat. She wore a black choker and a heavy silver cross on a black cord, as well as large, slender silver hoops and several silver rings on her fingers. Her hair was longer than the other girls' and black, except for the tips and bangs that framed her heart shaped face; they were an odd shade of purplish-pink. 

            "Keema, we don't have time for food." The blue haired girl fairly snapped. "We've got to leave, now." 

            "Ahh." Keema moaned. "But I just bought it." 

            "Tough." 

            "But Mai-" 

            "But Mai nothing." The blue haired girl said, grabbing Keema's wrist. Keema pouted, but then glanced at Lineback who was still staring at her. Pulling away from Mai, she walked up to Lineback and gave him a cute smile. 

            "Here." She handed him the popcorn. "No sense in letting it go to waste." 

            "Thanks." Linkeback said with his usual eloquence. Keema smiled even more brightly and was pulled away by Mai. 

            "Dude, how'd you do that?" Omari wondered. Lineback was still staring in Keema's direction. 

            "Quick, grab it before he drools all over." Kirkland muttered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

            The meal had been an uneasy one, though Harry had been privately thankful that his parents had refrained from heavy discussion until they were finished. Now, it was time for the inevitable. 

            "Son," Aiden began. "Your mother and I have been very concerned over your behavior over the past few years."

            "I know." Harry said, trying not to sound disrespectful. He was beginning to get a migraine. 

            "It's entirely improper to be chasing after a woman so below your station." Leila said, sounding as if she were on the verge of tears (which was how she usually sounded). Harry's jaw tightened over the slight on Leena, but a kick in the ankle startled him out of anger. He met Mary's eyes and she gave the barest nod. Harry nodded slightly back in return and pretended to listen as his parents launched into the reasons why he should give up and go home speech. His migraine grew worse. 

            "So, you want me to come home because all of our peers are laughing at you behind your backs and it's my fault." He said, after they were finished. 

            "Not exactly." Aiden commented dryly. "I'm doubly worried, especially after that…incident." 

            "Father, that was not Leena's or anybody's fault, except for the people who attacked us. Battles are not usually so destructive." 

            "Barring that, we would like for you to come home before something worse happens." Aiden said. 

            Leila nodded emphatically. "Please Harry. You're our only son." 

            Harry was about to make some scathing comment, when he caught the look in his parents' eyes. There was real concern there and it shocked him a little to find that they really did care, even if it was buried under all the ceremony and silliness of aristocratic life. 

            "I would come home if I could." He said softly. "But I can't." 

            Aiden raised his eyebrows questioningly. 

            "Father, I don't know how to explain this, but I know Leena is the woman I will marry. Frankly, I don't give a damn that she might be a social disaster or beneath me. But…" he took a breath. "I don't know what Mary has told you. I will admit that Leena has not been so friendly towards me in the past, but she and I are…after the incident, as you call it, something happened. I think we both grew up in some way. And while she is far from loving me, she has offered friendship and I just can't let that go. It's too precious to me." 

            He met Mary's eyes and she gave him a slight smile, as if congratulating him. He looked back at his parents. 

            "Please, just think-" 

            "Harry!" 

            He looked up to see Leena herself grinning down at him. "Are you going to introduce me or what?" 

            "Uh, Mother, Father this is Leena Tauros. Leena, these are my parents, Leila and Aiden Champ." 

            "Hiya!" Leena said cheerfully. "Oh, hi Mary." She addressed the young man once again. "Harry, are you going to be done soon? I really need to talk to you." 

            "I'm not sure." He said. Leena scowled. 

            "Well, all right. I'm going to Jade's hangar. Meet me there. It was nice meeting you all, bye!" And she was gone. 

            "That is Leena?" Leila blinked. "My dear, she is more than a social disaster, she will be social catastrophe!" 

            Harry grimaced, the pounding in his head worse. 

            "She is something of a barbarian." Mary agreed, speaking for the first time. "But, Harry is exceptionally fond of her, so she must have some redeeming qualities." 

            Harry looked up surprised. 

            "Perhaps, but not enough." Leila sniffed. "Aiden?" 

            Aiden was looking at Harry with an odd look in his eye. "I think it's a bit early to make a call, but I believe your mother is right." 

            "Then maybe society needs a catastrophe." Harry grumbled. 

            "Harry!" Leila said in shock. 

            "I mean it, Mother. Have you even looked at the girls in those families? One half are a conniving bunch of wenches who try to marry the most money they can and the other half are giggling airheads with not enough sense to be found among the lot of them!" 

            Leila gasped. 

            "Harry, I will thank you not to address your Mother in that tone." Aiden said sternly. 

            "I think that girl has had an adverse affect on you, Harry." Leila said tearfully. 

            "Well, maybe it was a good thing." Harry snapped. 

            "Harry." Aiden said sharply. The young man glanced at him. 

            "I'm sorry, Father, but I can't go back. I can't be the young man I was. Too many things have changed in me. If you think things are bad now, it would be worse if I came home. I…" he trailed off helplessly, unsure of how to tell his parents what he felt. The migraine came back, full force. He rubbed his temples. 

            "Perhaps we should discuss this later." Mary suggested brightly. "Mother, you must be exhausted after all that traveling. Don't you think so Father?" 

            Aiden nodded and helped his wife to her feet. They left to book a room. 

            "Thank you." Harry mumbled. Mary dropped a container of pain killer on his plate. 

            "I want them back." She said. 

            "Why?" Harry asked. 

            "Because I get headaches too, silly." 

            "No." Harry swallowed four of the pills. "Why did you help me?" 

            Mary took back the container. "Because you're my brother." She said, then walked away. Harry stared after her. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~``````

            Jade sighed, as she leaned against Bit. They were sitting on the floor, backs against the leg of Jade's Command Wolf.

            "What's wrong?" 

            "Tired." She answered softly. Leena came breezing in. 

            "I met Harry's parents!" she called as she went by. 

            "We're thrilled." Bit mumbled. Jade smiled. 

            "We just can't afford it." Sky said looking at papers spread over a makeshift desk. Kirin sighed grumpily. 

            "That stinks." 

            "I know." Sky smiled. "Don't worry, we get back out on the battlefield, get into a higher class and we'll be okay." 

            Kirin grinned at her. "Yeah, I guess so." 

            "Hey guys." Leena said coming into the back room. "Jade and Bit are having private time, so I decided to see how you guys were." 

            "Private time?" Kirin rumbled dangerously. Without another word, he strode out of the office. 

            "Thanks, Leena." Sky said sarcastically. Leena giggled as she flopped into the chair Kirin had vacated. 

            "But it's such fun to see him on the prowl." She said. Sky shook her head, a lost look suddenly coming into her eyes. 

            "Cloud!" 

            Bit looked at Kirin. "Shh!" he admonished. "She's asleep."

            "Yeah," Kirin said in a low, but still rather dangerous, voice. "In your arms." 

            Bit rolled sea-green eyes and stood, carefully picking up Jade. "Whatever." 

            "Hey." 

            They both turned as Harry came in. 

            "Leena here?"

            "In the office, with Sky." Kirin said, not taking his eyes off Bit. 

            "Right." Harry said, noting the tension. He made tracks for the study. 

            "You want her?" Bit asked. Kirin glared, stared at his sister, then back at Bit. 

            "I don't want her to wake up." He mumbled. "Come on." 

            "Where are we going?" Bit asked. 

            "The hotel, nitwit." Kirin snapped. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

            "Any thing?" Mai asked. 

            "No." Dinah frowned. "I don't understand it, Mai. There was a whole squadron of Strom Sworders there. They can't have just disappeared." 

            Mai's lips pursed. She didn't like the sound of this. 

            "Things have gotten a bit far." She admitted, sitting on a chair next to Dinah's computer. "And it's getting worse. Daytona and Jim told me that Seth and Emily were sent back to recover." 

            "Are we going to be re-stationed in Terron?" Dinah asked, still typing. 

            "I don't know." Mai leaned back in her chair. "Jim's going under cover in Backdraft." 

            "Well, he's a good actor. I'm sure he'll play the part of a revolutionary quite well." Dinah said with obvious restraint. 

            "Yeah, I guess." Mai rolled her head from side to side. She sighed. 

            "What's wrong?" Dinah asked. 

            "Nothing. Just tired." Mai answered, before leaving the room. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Reviewer Responses: **

**Thunderstorm – Here is an update for you! I'm sorry it took so long. **

**Nabooru - …Hope you still like it…*sheepish grin***

**Mookie Neko – Thank you very much for all the compliments! I always feel nice after your reviews lol. I love the Fuzzy Pandas, but I haven't seen much of them; their parts in this story are due too Wolfcking's Anizoid story; because I actually wasn't going to have them in at all. **

**Saiyan Princess – Erm, well, sorry about that, but I always try to have chapters six to seven pages long. If you don't have time to read a story right away, you could copy and paste it to a word document and read it later; that's what I do. **

**Capt. Wolf – Glad you like! Oh, well, I can't promise anything, but I'll try my best.**

**Ario – I'll try my best; Doc is a little hard for me to handle realistically though.**


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